08-07-2025
Senior doctors at Belfast Trust raised concerns over culture 18 months ago
Senior doctors at the Belfast Trust raised serious concerns about the culture within the organisation and its impact on staff wellbeing 18 months ago, UTV can reveal.
The doctors warned that some medics were so upset by their treatment by management that they were left feeling suicidal.
The claims were made during a meeting in January 2024 between a large number of doctors and consultants from across the Belfast Trust and the organisation's former chairman Ciaran Mulgrew.
Mr Mulgrew was not the subject of any of the concerns raised by the doctors.
Details of the meeting were outlined in a follow up letter from the group to Mr Mulgrew.
The letter, seen by UTV, mentioned how some doctors were in tears during the meeting as they outlined their experiences.
The correspondence also claimed there had been "clear reference to suicidal ideation amongst consultant staff" who had been subjected to internal disiplinary procedures, known as the Maintaining High Professional Standards process (MHPS).
One consultant told the meeting: 'it is only by good fortune that we had not had a colleague commit suicide due to the ordeal.'
Concern was also raised "regarding the culture and perceived lack of psychological safety in the environment in which consultant medical staff work in the BHSCT.'
Allegations were also made in the letter that in some cases doctors were placed under the disciplinary process after "raising whistleblowing concerns around patient safety."
In a statement the Belfast Trust said: "Belfast Trust supports all staff who wish to tell us of their experiences and we have offered a number of options for them to do so.
"We encourage staff to talk to us and we also have a firm commitment to our whistleblowing policy.
"We are providing bespoke training, and communicate daily with staff, focusing on patient safety in addition to having dedicated weekly governance meetings.
"We continue to work diligently to ensure that we make tangible improvements across the organisation, and in particular, within cardiac surgery services."
The Department of Health said: "The Department can confirm that the Permanent Secretary met with the non-executive directors of Belfast Trust on Monday evening.
"The Department will continue to provide support for the Trust as it deals with a series of significant challenges including service and funding pressures, governance issues and workplace culture.
"The Department has engaged with the Trust over a number of years in relation to its challenges.
"Following completion of the independent review of the Trust's cardiac surgery unit, Departmental intervention under its Support and Intervention Framework (SIF) was escalated to Level 5, the highest level.
