THE full report into a review of allegations of bullying at the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust has been published today (May 3).

A review into the Trust, carried out by solicitors Capsticks, was launched after an anonymous letter from 42 staff members to the Trust's chairman last July accused the Trust leadership of bullying behaviour to the detriment of ‘staff morale, patient care and the safety agenda’.

The review was launched to investigate claims that the Trust’s leadership team had poor communication and engagement with clinical teams, along with accusations of systemic bullying and intimidation.

A summary report, published in March, cleared the Trust's leadership of a ‘systemic’ culture of intimidation and bullying towards staff.

The union which represents some of the staff involved however, branded the summary report a 'whitewash'.

Responding to today's publication of the full report, Diane Wake, Chief Executive of the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, said the Trust 'fully' accepts the conclusions and recommendations of the report and confirmed that an improvement plan is in place.

Diane Wake said: "The trust has now received the full independent Capsticks report into claims of bullying and harassment. The legal firm Capsticks has been ensuring that the rights of all individuals who contributed to the review were complied with and properly protected as required by law prior to finalising the report. That process has been completed and, as was always our intention, we are publishing the report on our Trust website.

"We want to thank all those members of staff that came forward to share their views to help shape the report and its recommendations. We fully accept the conclusions and recommendations and have an improvement plan in place. We have asked NHS England and NHS Improvement to support us with further strengthening our freedom to speak up arrangements for staff to raise concerns.

"We are also offering all staff the opportunity to work with us by sharing their views on the improvements we need to make. We continue to promote a safe culture with open two-way communication to ensure all staff feel valued and supported in providing quality care for our patients.”

The report recommends that the Trust works to increase staff confidence in its existing processes for raising concerns and whistleblowing, as a 'matter of urgency'.