Staff vote of no confidence in hospital leaders

Hundreds of consultants at University Hospitals Birmingham have said they do not have confidence in its leadership team.

The trust has been criticised over cases of bullying and a toxic environment and was told by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to make improvements.

More than 400 people took part in the survey, which referenced "recent events" and asked if they had confidence that the Chief Medical Officer had acted with "honesty, integrity and openness". A majority said no in each of a series of votes.

The trust's chair said it was striving to "radically improve our performance, governance and culture".

The consultants were asked if the board was capable of effecting change and in each of the votes, close to 70% of the people who responded said they did not have confidence in their leaders.

They were also asked if they had confidence in the Chief Executive Officer and the trust board.

In March 2023 the Bewick Report found repeated cases of bullying and a toxic environment.

In September 2023, an independent review commissioned by the trust found that more than half of staff said they felt bullied or harassed, leading to UHB apologising for "unacceptable behaviours".

UHB's chair, Dame Yve Buckland, said the trust was "undertaking one of the biggest turnarounds in the NHS".

"The board of directors and I have complete confidence in our chief executive, chief medical officer and our executive team, as we continue this immense programme of change during extremely difficult challenges here at UHB and across the NHS more widely," she said.

"We welcome a culture of openness, both internally and externally, as part of our cultural improvement.

"Whilst the survey is disappointing, and its methodology questionable, we believe it is not wholly representative of the Senior Medical Staff Committee and Local Negotiating Committee, with whom we continue to engage.

"We also recognise there are voices within this who need to be heard."

The trust announced its new chief medical officer, Prof Kiran Patel, in March 2024.

"Prof Patel is proactively tackling these concerns," Dame Yve said.

"In doing so, he has uncovered a number of issues that may be uncomfortable for some but are necessary to address, at pace, to improve our culture, governance and, ultimately, patient safety and experience."

The trust runs four hospitals: Heartlands, the Queen Elizabeth, Good Hope and Solihull.

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