North Cumbria Integrated Care directors met at the Cumberland Infirmary on Wednesday for their latest board meeting.
Directors take key decisions about the direction of the NHS trust, which is responsible for the area’s hospitals and community health services.
At their latest public meeting on Wednesday, directors heard an update from the ‘Freedom to Speak-Up’ team on their work over the last quarter.
The report was presented by lead Freedom to Speak-Up guardian Jordanne McMullan and gives an insight into the issues North Cumbria NHS staff have raised concerns about.
Jordanne McMullan – North Cumbria Integrated Care’s Lead Freedom to Speak-Up Guardian (Image: NCIC)
The report revealed that in the second quarter of 2025/26, 15 members of NCIC staff raised concerns about bullying and harassment.
While this was an increase on the eight cases recorded in quarter one, it is a reduction of seven compared to the same period last year.
Emergency care departments are a key area of work for the Freedom to Speak-Up team as 77 per cent of staff are experiencing bullying and harassment from patients, while 20 per cent are experiencing bullying and harassment from managers or colleagues.
The trust’s interim chief executive Trudie Davies believes the data is symptomatic of long waiting times and the pressures staff are facing.
She said: “I don’t actually think that we are a society that wants to bully our staff. I think if we triangulated what we’ve heard, people waiting for an extremely long time in A&E become frustrated and worried.
“Because they’re not in A&E for a trip out. They’re here because they’re poorly, they’re in pain, they need help, they need care, they need attention and if we make them wait they will get frustrated.”
Interim Chief Executive of North Cumbria Integrated Care, Trudie Davies. (Image: Newsquest staff)
Ms Davies said: “That then impacts on their outcomes and our staff outcome. So it reinforces the need to improve our performance to give our staff and our patients a better experience.
“I think we have a responsibility to triangulate and recognise that because I really don’t believe that we have a bullying population. I really believe, they are just not getting the care they deserve because our staff can’t give it to them while they’re so busy.”
Ms McMullan said: “We’ve done drop-in sessions with staff members in A&E and that’s what’s come through, particularly from the reception and admin team.”
Ms Davies said: “I think most of us would be frustrated if we were waiting for hours and didn’t know what was going on so it’s our organisational responsibility to help them sort it.”
The meeting also heard that the People Committee is set to discuss staff tensions within the trust’s operating theatres teams.