'Toxic culture' at NHS trust left staff suicidal

"It was toxic from start to finish – you tried to avoid certain people but because you work with them you couldn't, they were always there," says former NHS worker Harvey Cooper.

He is one of several former Portsmouth Hospitals University Trust (PHU) staff members who have spoken to the BBC as part of an investigation into an alleged culture of workplace bullying and harassment.

The allegations span the past decade and include a "flawed and unfair" internal investigation that contributed to A&E manager Sam Carter taking her own life in 2022.

In response, the trust said it remained "committed to learning, improving, and fostering an inclusive and supportive environment".

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Harvey says he resigned last May due to physical and mental distress he suffered at work.

He joined the trust in May 2022 as an Emergency Medical Assistant (EMA) at the Queen Alexandra Hospital (QA) in Cosham, a role which required moving patients around A&E.

He says he faced constant bullying from other EMAs - he claims he was called a homophobic slur, chanted at in corridors, prevented from taking patients to where they needed to go and was injured after a bed was shoved into him.

Emails seen by the BBC showed Harvey raised two grievances against some of the EMAs and managers were aware of alleged inappropriate behaviours and attitudes.

In November 2023, a year after his first grievance was submitted, he received a letter from the trust apologising for the way his complaints had been handled and the "unacceptable" length of time it had taken.

But by then Harvey says he was receiving counselling after feeling suicidal.

"It ended up ruining my health, my mental health, I had two heart attacks and diagnosed with PTSD and still to this day nothing ever got done," he told the BBC.

PHU said in a statement it had focused on staff feeling valued and being treated with respect in recent years which included ensuring there were multiple routes for people to raise concerns and be supported.

Just four months after Harvey started at the QA, his manager Sam Carter took her own life.

A coroner ruled the 55-year-old had been under stress as a result of a work investigation and she acted on impulse on 16 September 2022 after an incident in her personal life caused her great distress.

She had been accused by a more junior member of staff of rude and aggressive behaviour after Sam had asked her to tie her hair up and not use the ambulance entrance.

The complaint was then circulated to about 60 members of staff leaving her humiliated and angry.

Harvey says she was being harassed by some of the same EMAs who went on to abuse him.

"She was lovely, she was like an old school matron so she was firm but she was fun, I really got on well with her but the older EMAs didn't because she came in and was a proper manager," he said.

A formal investigation into alleged misconduct began in May 2022 but what should have taken a month to complete under trust guidelines lasted 100 days and was still ongoing by the time of Sam's death.

Following her inquest, the coroner raised concerns in a Prevention of Future Deaths report about the delays in resolving the investigation and the ease with which the allegations were made public.

A year later in June 2023, a damning report by the investigations company, Verita, which had been commissioned by PHU, described the trust's handling of the case as "poorly specified, unacceptably delayed and unfair".

The report revealed messages Sam had sent to colleagues in which she said she felt unsupported by her line manager and that the investigation felt like a "witch hunt".

As part of the report, Verita carried out a review of the workplace culture at PHU, however, neither Sam's family nor the BBC was granted permission by the trust to read that section of the document, something that has angered her children.

The family statement said the trust had failed to provide updates and reassurance during the disciplinary process which left their mother "increasingly anxious and depressed".

They added that following their mother's suicide there was "a total lack of communication" or letters of condolence.

It took up to a year to get their mother's personal items returned.

They said: "The trust fell way below the standard expected and showed not an ounce of common decency to a bereaved family."

They added Sam had been "treated deplorably throughout the disciplinary process as a second-rate citizen" and the trust had shown "little to no compassion or kindness" to any member of their family.

In response, the trust said: "We recognise that at times we have not always provided the level of support our staff deserve and are genuinely sorry for the impact this has had on people including Samantha and her family."

Lisa-Lynne Beckman, a former cleaner at the trust, says staff were instructed not to discuss Sam's death or the subsequent investigation.

She says she resigned two years later in August 2024 after nearly 20 years.

She alleged she encountered team leaders displaying favouritism towards other staff, they were often highly critical and sometimes lacked empathy which she said created a "toxic environment".

"Some of them were ok but the majority of the management there were just all out for themselves and you'd be thrown under the bus at any time for anything that you'd done," Lisa-Lynne said.

Campaigners have fought for years to improve the way NHS staff are treated during disciplinary procedures.

Terry Skitmore pushed for an independent investigation into Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust after his partner died by suicide after being wrongfully dismissed.

A report by Verita found Amin Abdullah, an NHS nurse who killed himself outside Kensington Palace in February 2016, had been "treated unfairly" and the trust's disciplinary procedures against Amin were "weak and unfair".

The London-based trust accepted the report's findings in full and acknowledged mistakes had been made.

Terry said: "After the Verita report we knew people were lying, people were using the same old bullying HR tactics that we discovered wasn't just in that trust, it tended to be pretty national...and in my opinion, 10 years on, it probably still is... because it's very hard to break a culture."

As a result of the report's findings, Baroness Dido Harding, then-chair of NHS Improvement, wrote to all NHS trusts in May 2019 demanding an urgent review of disciplinary procedures to ensure they were compassionate, fair and prioritise employee health and well-being.

Terry says only about 40% of trusts followed the recommendations, he now wants to see them become mandatory.

PHU said it had taken action to strengthen its own policies in decision making and support for staff going through a formal process.

The union Unison said the latest NHS staff survey showed harassment, bullying and sexually motivated incidents "remain far too high" and urged employers to create safe cultures where staff can report incidents and get the support they need.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) added the figures were likely to be under reported.

Ellen McNicholas, RCN South East Regional Director, said: "Investigations need be thorough but not drawn out and real, sometimes systemic change needs to be seen by everyone."

PHU - which is rated "good" - is one of the largest trusts in the UK employing about 8,700 staff, with its main QA hospital serving a local population of 675,000 residents.

Kelvin Cheatle, chief people officer at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, said: "We have taken steps over recent years to improve how concerns are handled.

"This includes reducing delays in investigations by training and appointing more investigating officers, as well as strengthening how we record and monitor cases to ensure greater oversight, fairness and consistency."

He added other measures had been introduced such as clear expectations of acceptable behaviours, an independent Freedom to Speak Up service and that the trust continually reviews how it supports staff well-being.