BREACH OF CONFIDENTIALITY – UPDATE 2

Confidentiality, NHS operations, Patient Confidentiality

I complained to the healthcare provider which is currently contracted to perform certain NHS operations about the breach of confidentiality.  Below is part of the reply I received:

” . . . I can confirm that no one at [. . . . .] has ever had access to any of your counselling notes.  The medical records we have are only in relation to the consultation and treatment for your foot.  . . . We hold a tracker of any NHS notes requested from [NHS healthcare provider’s name] and this demonstrates that your NHS notes have never been ordered from them.”

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BREACH OF CONFIDENTIALITY – UPDATE

Blog on Workplace Bullying, Confidentiality, Freedom of Information Act, NHS operations, Patient Confidentiality, Requesting Personal Information from Public Service, Requests for SAR prints, SAR requests

Following the breach of patient confidentiality by the healthcare provider which I mentioned in my previous post, I wrote to the local manager.  I wanted to resolve the issue quickly and quietly in a way which would not jeopardise people’s jobs or patient care.

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BREACHES OF CONFIDENTIALITY

Blog on Workplace Bullying, Bullying by Social Media, Confidentiality, Online Bullying

The small town I live in is rife with (exaggerated) gossip.  Although local people know this, newcomers to the area may not initially realise that personal, confidential matters they discuss with work colleagues (some of whom should not be hearing about them) could well spread quickly around the town.

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WAYS TO DEAL WITH BEING BULLIED

Blog on Workplace Bullying, Bullying in the Civil Service, Bullying in the Workplace, Civil Service, Workplace Bullying

The advice from the government website states (and let’s not forget that this applies equally to their own departments!):

“What employees should do if they’re bullied or harassed

Employees should see if they can sort out the problem informally first. If they can’t, they should talk to their:

  • manager
  • human resources (HR) department
  • trade union representative

If this doesn’t work, they can make a formal complaint using their employer’s grievance procedure. If this doesn’t work and they’re still being harassed, they can take legal action at an employment tribunal.”                                                                         https://www.gov.uk/workplace-bullying-and-harassment   

This is great in theory, but if as a civil servant a manager bullies you and no action is taken your options can seem limited.

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LEGAL DUTIES UNDER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT: IGNORED?

Blog on Workplace Bullying, Bullying in the Civil Service, Bullying in the Workplace, Civil Service, Freedom of Information Act, Monitoring the Civil Service, Toxic Organisations, Workplace Bullying, Workplace Bullying Blog, Workplace Culture

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) describes the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as providing “public access to information held by public authorities.

It does this in two ways:

  • public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities; and
  • members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities.

The Act covers any recorded information that is held by a public authority, including government departments, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and by UK-wide public authorities based in Scotland. 

The main principle behind freedom of information legislation is that people have a right to know about the activities of public authorities, unless there is a good reason for them not to. This is sometimes described as a presumption or assumption in favour of disclosure.”

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WHY I WRITE MY BLOG

Blog on Workplace Bullying, Bullying by Social Media, Bullying in the Civil Service, Bullying in the Workplace, Civil Service, Effects of being Bullied, Online Bullying, Toxic Organisations, Workplace Bullying, Workplace Bullying Blog, Workplace Culture

I hope my readers have a wonderful 2017.

It has been suggested that if I had not started writing my blog the online personal abuse about me which has continued for a long time would not have happened.  I therefore want to explain my reasons for writing about the bullying and the order in which things happened.

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ATTENTION-SEEKERS

Bullying by Social Media, Bullying in the Civil Service, Bullying in the Workplace, Effects of being Bullied, Online Bullying, Workplace Bullying, Workplace Culture

We all know people who are attention-seekers, and after a couple of alcoholic drinks most of us become attention-seekers.  It is usually fairly harmless, low level behaviour when the alcohol has made us lose our inhibitions.  However, there are those who turn everything that happens in their lives into a drama: from burning the toast in the morning to the evening train being late, it all becomes fodder for this type of behaviour. The people in their lives can reach overload as it can be exhausting for the “audience” if it is relentless without periods of relative calm and stability.

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EFFECTS OF BEING BULLIED

Blog on Workplace Bullying, Bullying in the Civil Service, Bullying in the Workplace, Civil Service, Effects of being Bullied, Toxic Organisations, Workplace Bullying, Workplace Bullying Blog, Workplace Culture

I decided to write a blog about workplace bullying  to inform readers about the facts: what happened, how it was dealt with and the outcome.  I wanted to enable readers to recognise the signs of workplace bullying if something similar happened to them.  In my next post I hope to give people some skills in dealing with being bullied in the workplace. With hindsight, there are some things I would have done differently in order to achieve a better outcome.

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BREACHES OF TRUST AND CONFIDENTIALITY

Blog on Workplace Bullying, Bullying in the Civil Service, Bullying in the Workplace, Civil Service, Confidentiality, Monitoring the Civil Service, Toxic Organisations, Workplace Bullying, Workplace Bullying Blog, Workplace Culture

Although I doubt that my previous employer would be a fan of my blog, I feel that writing it helps me and others who may be going through a similar experience.  It has also rekindled my love of writing, so I will continue in my own unassuming way to try to entertain and inform my readers about aspects of my experience in this particular organisation.

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THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT

Blog on Workplace Bullying, Bullying in the Civil Service, Bullying in the Workplace, Civil Service, Confidentiality, The Psychological Contract, Toxic Organisations, Why Do People Bully, Workplace Bullying, Workplace Bullying Blog, Workplace Culture

When I resigned from the civil service I had (and still have) a strong sense of injustice at the way I had been treated, and this is what led me to write my blog.  Not only does it help me to make some sort of sense of what happened, but I hope that in some small way I can help others going through similar experiences.

Today I would like to have a look at the relationship between management and employees, which is of major importance in any organisation in relation to employee morale and productivity .

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