STAFF at hospitals in south Essex including Basildon Hospital feared reprisals from their managers if they spoke up about bullying and harassment, according to an NHS trust report.

A Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust report says in one department staff were hesitant to use an internal complaints service and wanted to remain anonymous in case their manager found out.

Incidents of bullying and harassment at the trust, which runs Basildon, Broomfield and Southend hospitals, made up 19 per cent of the total concerns raised through the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian service between April 1 2021- March 31 2022, up one per cent from last year.

Mid and South Essex trust said it supports and encourages staff to speak up and complaints of staff facing reprisals from managers for speaking up are taken seriously, investigated and acted upon in line with its policies and processes.

According to the report, bullying complaints also included allegations of micro-management, unfair task-setting, unrealistic time scale-setting, blocking development and opportunities, denying bank shifts, inappropriately addressing personal concerns in front of other staff, incivility and shouting aggressively at staff.

There have been bullying claims made about a single person by several people in some departments, it continues.

However, in one department staff members felt able to resolve this themselves and the concerns did not need to be escalated.

Mid and South Essex NHS Trust said in a statement the trust's board has approved investment in a new leadership development strategy which includes enhanced training for managers on topics such as respectful resolution, healthy teams and creating psychologically safe cultures in the workplace.

A spokesperson for the trust said in a statement: "The trust actively encourages an open and honest culture, and the confidential and independent Freedom to Speak Up Guardian service helps support a positive direct impact on staff who work here, as well as continuously improving safety and quality for our patients.

"Open cases are continually monitored, and regular contact is maintained by the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian service with members of staff who have raised a concern to establish where ongoing support is needed."

The trust had 140 concerns raised to the guardians overall between April 1 2021-March 31 2022 by members of its 15,721-strong staff body, down from 207 the previous year.

The report suggests the annual drop in cases could be because last year there were multiple concerns raised in departments that related to the same concern. Of this year's cases, 37 remain open while 103 have been closed.

112 of the cases were raised by workers, with the remainder being raised by managers, senior leaders or doctors. 39 concerns were raised by staff from the nursing and midwifery group, forming the largest proportion.

39 concerns were raised by staff from the nursing and midwifery group, forming the largest proportion.

48 of the overall concerns raised were regarding management issues, such as staff not feeling respected or listened to by managers.

Meanwhile, 32 were regarding systems and processes, 21 were regarding behaviours and relationships and 6 were regarding discrimination and inequality.

One fell into the category of "other" and related to a staff member who felt another staff member was inappropriately dressed. The report says this was solved by "a sensitive conversation with the line manager and staff member."

Bullying and harassment was the only category to see a proportional increase compared with the previous period, according to the report.

Freedom to Speak Up was launched by the NHS in 2015, with the aim of improving staff culture in the health service.

The guardian service, which works alongside the initiative, was piloted in Southend Hospital in 2017, followed by Basildon in 2018 and Broomfield in 2019.