What constitutes harassment from a patient?

The latest copy of the organisation’s Harassment and Bullying Policy (PP17) is available via Sharepoint. Within, the policy defines as unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic which has the purpose or effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading or offensive environment for that individual.

Nonetheless, it is important to note that while this definition focuses on protected characteristics (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage, race, religion/beliefs, sex and sexual orientation), harassment can ulimately be of any agenda. Accordingly, what constitutes harassment from patients is perhaps less about the focus of the abuse, but the patterns and its intent.

Additionally, incidents which may form part of a campaign of harassment need not occur face-to-face as may be conventionally thought. So while behaviours like physical contact, unacceptable comments, stalking, threats, sexual advances and the like may all be common physical examples of harassment, this may also occur digitally – such as ‘flaming‘, impersonation, denigration or otherwise.

What to do if you feel you're being harassed by a patient

Harassment is generally considered as a repeat pattern of unacceptable behaviours and/or incidents targeted at robbing you of dignity or creating a more hostile environment for you (whether physically or digitally).

To potentially help help limit your exposure to these incidents in the first instance, it is also advised that you raise any concerns about a patient’s behaviour with your line manager as soon as possible. All managers have a responsibility to develop and support an environment and culture free from any harassment, discrimination, bullying or victimisation.

If you are currently being harassed by a patient, you may also wish to inform the organisation’s Security team on 0191 445 2039 or Bleep 1109. These numbers can be found on the back of your staff ID card at any time. As well as providing support to de-escalate a situation or remove a patient from the premises, Security can also help you in cases where you feel you are under threat, for example, helping ensure you get safely to your car following a shift.

If you feel that you may be experiencing a campaign of harassment from a patient, it may therefore be wise to consider creating a log of any incidents that you have been subject to, and continue to update this going forward. This will hopefully help you when reporting, regardless of which of the reporting routes below that you opt to pursue. A log is also heavily advised for more threatening behaviours such as stalking – and a template log from the Stalking Prevention Awareness and Resource Centre can be found here.

Similarly, if you believe you have played witness to any instance of harassment or discrimination towards a colleague, the organisation’s Harassment and Bullying Policy (PP17) outlines that you have the same responsibility to report this to your line manager.

Reporting harassment from a patient

In the first instance, it is advised that you make your line manager aware of any form of harassment from a patient. Your manager has a responsibility to facilitate a environment and culture which is free of these experiences, and should be able to help whether by investigating any incident, communicating standards of expected behaviour to a patient or otherwise.

In instances where a protected characteristic has been targeted, it may be advisable to report incidents of harassment via the organisation’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, Kuldip Sohanpal on [email protected].

The organisation’s Freedom to Speak Up Officer, Tracy Healey, also offers colleagues an impartial and independent party that they can raise concerns with. You can find out more about the Freedom To Speak Up service, how it can help you and what happens when you speak up here. To get in touch with Tracy, email [email protected]. People and OD Team representatives and Staff Side representatives can offer useful avenues of reporting.

Externally speaking, in instances and patterns of harassment that area of particular concern, you may wish to report this to the police. Northumbria Police hosts more information on harassment and stalking available to download here, while you can also find information around various reporting routes here.

Support following harassment

As well as being a good starting point for reporting harassment, your line manager can often also be a useful source of support following any experience of unacceptable behaviours. You might also wish to discuss events with colleagues, or look to other internal support avenues such as the organisation’s Staff Networks or Health and Wellbeing Ambassadors for more informal and independent avenues of support.

If you feel your experience has had an impact on your mental wellbeing, you may wish to consider getting in touch with one of our trained Mental Health First Aiders, who act as a point of contact for any colleague experiencing a mental health concern or emotional distress and can offer non-judgemental listening and guidance as well as signposting advice. Similarly, our trained Mental Health Diffusers can provide debriefing, support and signposting in the immediate aftermath of any traumatic incident.

Internally, the Occupational Health and Wellbeing team’s Counselling service can provide a programme of short-term support which offers opportunity to discuss your experience(s), how this has impacted you and help you work towards developing coping mechanisms with a trained psychologists. A range of other free and confidential external counselling services can be found on this page, and includes the North East and North Cumbria ICS Staff Wellbeing Hub – who can offer the same high quality services completely confidentially.

If you believe your harassment was discriminative, you may wish to have a chat with Citizens Advice Gateshead through our priority partnership. Advisors can help you better understand your legal rights, as well as any potential routes available to you that may help resolve the situation.

Unions are also another source of support and advice for those experiencing harassment, with Unison, Unite and the BMA all hosting resources which may be of assistance.

Learning opportunities

Once you have had the opportunity to process this experience, you may be interested in using your own experiences and understanding of how being a victim of harassment might benefit of others who may be in a similar situation.

To that end, Gateshead Health is currently looking to expand its portfolio of trained Mental Health First Aiders, while a targeted session is also available for those with line management responsibilities. To learn more about these opportunities, when training is taking place and register for a place, please complete our expression of interest form.

One other way you may wish to generate positivity from a negative experience could be by volunteering to be a storyteller at an upcoming Schwartz Round. To learn more about Schwartz Rounds, their aim and why doing so may be a cathartic experience that helps you connect with others, just visit its dedicated webpage – where you’ll also find upcoming dates and topics for rounds.