“I am a doctor and I have been working in the Emergency Department of the Can Misses Hospital for three years. The pandemic has been very hard for everyone, the summer season increases the pressure even more, the exploitative workload is felt by us more and more and there are colleagues who intensify that stress even more“. This is an excerpt from the letter sent by physician René Brito to his colleagues to announce the reasons why he is resigning from his contract after experiencing workplace bullying.
Bullying and attacks by multiple departments
He can’t take it anymore and not because of the excessive workload he faces every day. Brito assures that there are colleagues, from his service and others, who have “violent behavior, with insults and shouting, which are part of our daily workday”. He speaks of “bullying at work” among professionals in the emergency department of Can Misses, a service “attacked” by multiple departments. “Bullying is a silent crime that is not talked about, which has been overshadowed and concealed with the excuse of the high workload,” he stresses.
This doctor blames himself for “not being brave” and holding on to his job, but hopes that his testimony will serve as a “stimulus” to identify “these crimes that are unjustifiably hidden in the emergency department”. He adds that verbal violence “is manifested by more senior colleagues with respect to the newer ones”, which in his opinion is “a vicious circle that seems to be unknown to senior management”.
A doctor resigns from his contract at Can Misses Hospital for “workplace bullying”
Brito criticizes the “lack of management” by the center’s leadership in everything related to the mental health of workers. “There are no protocols in place to identify certain types of abuse, such as those generated by harassment at work, which nobody dares to talk about,” he says. However, the Health Department of the Pitiusas confirm to this media that the physician “has not used any of the avenues available for this type of situations”.
Among them stands out a specific protocol on workplace harassment, which health sources assure that it has been activated on several occasions. “In this case it has not been requested,” they clarify. In addition, there is an Occupational Health and Safety Committee with five union sections and the Occupational Prevention delegates, who “have not been notified either”. In fact, the Health Department emphasizes that the last meeting was on July 15th and this issue was not addressed.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.