Workplace bullying at charity founded by doctors left staff feeling suicidal

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Workers at a charity founded by doctors have said the culture is so ‘toxic’ they considered taking their own life.

Twenty-six staff members and volunteers at Lincolnshire-based LIVES told the BBC there is a culture of bullying and belittling staff – despite the charity’s website highlighting how their purpose is to provide care and ‘protect lives’.

LIVES was founded 50 years ago by two doctors to provide emergency medical assistance for road traffic accident victims and trauma patients in rural areas. It has expanded over the years to provide rapid response care to people in need and works in collaboration with the ambulance service across Lincolnshire.

Workplace bullying at charity

However, nine workers independently described the workplace culture at LIVES as ‘toxic’. Twelve said working there caused their mental health to deteriorate and three said they had considered taking their own lives.

Former employee Andy Bateman worked as the finance officer at the Horncastle-based charity from 2018 to 2020 and told the BBC it was “probably the most caustic place I ever worked”.

Mr. Bateman said he was shouted at and belittled by management. He made an official complaint of bullying, which was rejected by the charity.

Now retired after a 48-year career in the private and public sector, Mr. Bateman said:

“I have never known anywhere with such a high staff turnover or bad morale. I worked in some reasonably high-risk businesses, but nothing was like there.

“There were more investigations and employment clashes than I think I encountered at any other time in my career.”

But trustees said the allegations were “completely without foundation” and they were “satisfied the charity is well run and robustly managed”.

When speaking to the BBC, eleven of the people said they believed they, or their colleagues, were targeted after whistleblowing about patient safety, or raising concerns about management decisions.

One said: “It’s the most toxic environment I ever worked in. I’ve seen grown men reduced to tears.”

Another said: “I served in Iraq and Afghanistan, but nothing compares to what I went through in that organisation.”

Meanwhile, one worker was subjected to a disciplinary investigation after whistleblowing and is now taking the charity to an employment tribunal on claims of unfair and constructive dismissal.

Another former employee said their “difficulties began” after they raised concerns about a contractual matter, and after a 14-month investigation, the stress drove them to consider suicide.

“The effect on my mental health from that whole process was just awful. My reputation was damaged, and my income was damaged. There were times when I had some very dark thoughts.”

LIVES rejects the claim that staff who raise concerns are singled out. It said it only refers employees to a regulatory body “where it has reasonable grounds and only after following due process”.

It said in many cases, employees’ mental health issues “predated their employment with LIVES” and “in any cases brought to our attention we have offered the appropriate support”.

Care Quality Commission Report

The latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) report published said some LIVES staff told inspectors about allegations of “bullying and shouting at staff in public areas from senior leaders”.

Overall, it was marked as ‘requiring improvement’ in four categories, including safety, effectiveness, leadership and emergency and urgent care.

Staff told inspectors they had “felt unable to report [the incidents] formally” and were unable to raise concerns with managers because they “feared the consequences”.

The charity denies the allegations and said an “action plan” had been created since the report, with many issues “immediately addressed”.

It said complaints about the CEO were “small in number and all handled by an independent external HR specialist company according to a very robust and thorough set of policies”.

Number of volunteers dropped

According to the charity’s annual reports, the number of volunteer responders has fallen from 762 in 2018 to 241 in 2023, and the number of medical emergencies the charity’s Community Emergency Medicine Service (CEMS) attends has also declined.

A Freedom of Information request to East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) revealed that the number of CEMS call-outs has dropped from 202 in January 2022 to 69 in January 2024,

Former and current staff said they believed the declines were, in part, down to high levels of staff sickness, disciplinary suspensions and resignations. The CQC said its inspectors found “high turnover and sickness rates” among LIVES’ staff and 15 had left the charity in a year.

However, LIVES said there were multiple reasons for the reduction in both volunteer and response numbers. These included “staffing issues”, a migration of the volunteers’ database which removed “outdated information” and a new EMAS triage system.

Funding

In 2022/23, LIVES received £502,834 in donations and legacies. It was also paid £2.41m by the NHS to provide emergency response services, including staffing three CEMS vehicles with paramedics, doctors and advanced clinical practitioners seven days a week.

However, the BBC has been told the vehicles have not been fully staffed at any point in the past six months

NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board, which funds CEMS, said it was “aware of some staffing capacity constraints” and was “working with LIVES to address this”.

The Charity Commission, which regulates all charities in England, said it was “aware of potential concerns” at LIVES and was “assessing information to inform our next steps”.

The BBC has been told some former staff were offered financial settlements and asked to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), or so-called gagging clauses when they left the charity.

Petition

Since January, an online petition calling for the charity’s CEO to resign has been supported by 468 people, including former finance officer Andy Bateman.

He said he was willing to speak out because he had “very little to lose” after his formal complaint of bullying was rejected by the charity.

“I’ve been subjected to bullying. I don’t like people being bullied, and if others won’t speak up, somebody’s got to lead the charge or stand and man the parapet. I don’t want LIVES to fail,” he said.

Workplace bullying claims – What to do about workplace bullying

The most important thing above any claim you may have is in maintaining your own health. This must be the priority.

If you are concerned about how you are coping with bullying and harassment at work, we would encourage you to speak to your GP and seek specialist advice. They have a wealth of experience and knowledge surrounding the issues of mental ill-health.

At your workplace and before any issues escalate, do try to speak to someone who may be able to help you and who you feel able to confide in. If you have been battling these issues quietly, explain the problems you are facing at work calmly and professionally to your employers. Nobody can read minds.

If you later consider making a claim, having a record of work issues raised can be useful. If you feel as though you have tried to bring them to your employer’s attention and are still experiencing bullying and harassment, we would be happy to discuss the matter further with you.

Please get in touch for a free and confidential assessment if you feel as though you would benefit from some legal support.

What is considered bullying in the workplace?

ACAS defines bullying as: “Offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, an abuse or misuse of power through means that undermine, humiliate, denigrate or injure the recipient.”

There is no claim for bullying in itself as a legal action – there has to be some sort of failure by the employer to protect an employee from the behaviour complained of.

There also has to be some sort of financial loss that can be compensated and/or an impact on someone’s health (often to their mental health) which is significant to meet the necessary criteria for a compensation claim.

What workplace bullying can look like

Workplace bullying is often subtle, and other members of staff may not notice it. In a lot of cases, the bully may treat you well in front of others but may mistreat you when you are alone.

Common types of bullying may include:

Excluding you from groups, or meetings, or deliberately ignoring you
Finding fault with everything you do
Swinging between positive and negative behaviour towards you
Setting you up to fail by overloading you with work or not sharing key information
Mocking you, both alone or in front of others

How to prove bullying in the workplace

Proving that you are being bullied can be difficult, but keeping a diary of instances where you feel you have been bullied can help.

Try to write down the incident as soon as possible so the memory is fresh, with the date, location, who was involved and what happened. Also keep hold of any written examples of the bullying, eg. emails, text messages etc.

How to make a claim

For a successful workplace bullying claim, you must legally prove that you have not only suffered workplace stress from the bullying but that the stress meets the clinical criteria for a recognised psychiatric condition.

If so, you would be able to claim compensation known as general damages – compensation for the pain and suffering you have endured as a result of the negligence.

Courts use guidance called the Judicial Studies Board Guidelines (JCG) as a starting point, which takes into account the following:

The injured person’s ability to cope with life and work
The effect on the injured person’s relationships with family, friends, and those with whom he or she comes into contact
The extent to which treatment would be successful
Future vulnerability
Prognosis
Whether medical help has been sought

If you were to consider making a claim, having a record of work issues raised can be useful. If you feel as though you have tried to bring them to your employer’s attention and are still experiencing bullying and harassment, we would be happy to discuss the matter further with you.