Latest news with #toxicculture
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE 'Creepy' surgeon charged with groping six female colleagues flicked admin worker's nipple after spotting her piercing, court hears
A top surgeon flicked a female colleague's nipple after spotting her piercing through the bodysuit she was wearing, a court heard today. On another occasion Dr Amal Bose, 55, allegedly squeezed the administrative worker's breasts and said 'I'm just looking for a pen' when she handed him a leaving card to sign, a jury was told. The 'creepy' NHS consultant also responded by seeing her eating a lollipop by saying 'I've got something better for you to suck on', it was alleged. She claimed that when he later stuck his hand inside a wrap dress she was wearing and asked why she was wearing shorts underneath it, she retorted that it was to 'protect from you'. Dr Bose is accused of groping the breasts and bottoms of six female colleagues at Blackpool Victoria Hospital in Lancashire. Medical staff felt unable to challenge the 'toxic and sexualised' culture he created due to his 'position and authority as a senior consultant', according to the prosecution. Instead hospital workers would attempt to dismiss his behaviour by saying 'That's just Amal', Preston Crown Court has heard. Today jurors were played a recording of a police interview with the administrative worker who is the alleged victim in nine of the 14 counts of sexual assault he faces. She said on one occasion while at work she was eating a lollipop when she encountered Dr Bose, who said: 'I've got something better for you to suck on.' Asked by the detective what she took that to mean, the woman - who cannot be named for legal reasons - replied: 'A bl*w job.' The woman said Dr Bose's behaviour when she first started working with him was comparatively 'tame'. When new staff joined the department 'we'd always warn them about Amal', she said. But when he was promoted to a more senior role in 2021 it was like someone had 'flicked a switch,' she said, and it got 'progressively worse'. On one occasion she said she was in another consultant's office when Dr Bose came in and began 'looking me up and down, looking at my chest'. 'I had nipple piercings,' she said. 'They were obviously visible, I didn't realise. 'So he flicked my nipple through my bodysuit and then left.' Saying she felt 'mortified' and 'sick', she said she told the other consultant what had happened but he 'wasn't listening'. The incident was a 'green light' to Dr Bose, she said, apparently making him feel: 'What else can I get away with?' But she didn't confront him or complain as he 'would have carried on' anyway, she added. 'On a weekly basis he would smack my bum, he'd grab my boobs,' she said. Later she was in the cramped ward kitchen making her lunch when Dr Bose came in and stuck his hand inside her wrap dress, she said, commenting: 'What have you got shorts on for?' She replied that it was to 'Protect from you,' she told police. The woman said she hadn't worn the 'expensive' dress since then. On another occasion, she said she approached him with a leaving card to sign, only for him to grab her breasts and say: 'I'm just looking for a pen.' She said she replied: 'I don't keep my pens down there Amal.' The witness said she felt 'sick' as she believed other colleagues had seen what he did. 'If someone saw something they'd never admit to it and never challenge it,' she said. But later she said one female colleague walked in on them both in the kitchen while Dr Bose was groping her and asked the consultant: 'What the f*** are you doing?' The doctor allegedly replied: 'I'm just checking her groin.' He then 'smirked' and walked away, she said. The woman said Dr Bose would tug at the waistband of her pants and try to put his hand inside when he found her alone, to which she would tell him to 'pack it in' and 'behave'. She began wearing high-waisted Spanx underwear in order to combat his unwanted advances, she added. Saying there was always 'banter' between medical and administrative staff, she said with other doctors it was 'consensual' and 'we know what lines we can't cross'. But Dr Bose 'would always cross those lines' and 'get a kick out of it,' she said. The 'creepy' consultant allegedly told one nurse that his fantasy was to tie her up and tried to persuade her to go back to a hotel room to 'show her a good time'. However medical staff felt unable to challenge the 'toxic and sexualised' culture he created due to his 'position and authority as a senior consultant', according to the prosecution. Instead hospital workers would attempt to dismiss his behaviour by saying 'That's just Amal', the trial heard. When he was arrested on March 21, 2023, Dr Bose was recorded on police video telling the officer: 'It was only flirting.' Dr Bose is charged with 14 counts of sexual assault on six female colleagues between 2017 and 2022. He denies all the charges.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Doctors say they warned CHI of toxic behaviour by several senior medics
Management at Children's Health Ireland (CHI), the embattled State body which runs three children's hospitals, was warned repeatedly about toxic, bullying and disruptive behaviour by some senior staff, according to doctors who previously worked there. Several doctors contacted The Irish Times after publication yesterday of details about a CHI report on the toxic atmosphere in part of one of its hospitals. The report described a 'negative and toxic' work culture, in which multiple staff complained that 'unprofessional and disruptive behaviour from consultants' contributed to the undermining of care and treatment for sick children. Only a small number of CHI consultants were involved in the behaviour. [ Report reveals 'toxic culture' among consultants at CHI hospital Opens in new window ] Several doctors related their experience in the hospital concerned. READ MORE 'My personal experiences were of belittlement, undermining of professional judgment and ritual humiliation in front of other staff,' said one. 'They were not atypical of the other junior docs while I was there. We all adopted a get-the-head-down approach until our rotations ended.' Another person working as a consultant said they had been 'victim of the bullying and harassment by CHI consultants, more specifically one particular consultant in CHI, over a long period of time'. The person said that 'numerous complaints' had been made over many years to Children's Health Ireland management regarding one person in particular and about 'bullying behaviour'. Another confirmed 'toxic behaviour' by 'arrogant and abusive' senior colleagues. One doctor described how concerns for the safety of one junior colleague were ignored by a senior colleague who pretended not to know the junior colleague's name. The doctor also recounted being dismissed in sexist terms by a senior colleague after she brought concerns about possible sexual abuse of a patient to his notice. CHI, which is responsible for the governance and operation of the three paediatric hospitals in Dublin at Temple Street, Crumlin and Tallaght, and is due to take over the running of the new national children's hospital, has been plagued by scandal and controversy in recent months. A recent report found that most hip surgeries carried out on children were unnecessary. Before that, it emerged that devices not cleared for surgical use were inserted into children suffering from scoliosis, the management of which has been another long-running controversy. In a statement, CHI said: 'The examination in question was conducted at the end of 2021 in response to concerns and issues raised. The recommendations have been implemented and are ongoing. The issues have been addressed and the team in question are working well. 'Work on CHI's culture is ongoing,' it said CHI said there had been 'inaccurate media reporting in relation to NTPF payments to a consultant'. 'CHI can confirm that these clinics did not take place in the consultant's private rooms. They occurred in a public clinic, in one of its hospitals, on a Saturday. It was a waiting list initiative for an outpatient appointment only. 'The NTPF funded the hospital for this waiting list initiative and there was no charge to patients. This was over and above the Consultant's contractual hours. There are no direct payments to CHI staff from NTPF.' 'We regularly conduct internal reviews to ensure any issues are identified and addressed across our services. CHI is a learning organisation and service improvements through internal reviews and clinical audits, which are an essential tool to support this, will continue to be a priority. [ Revelations show appalling personal behaviour among some CHI medics Opens in new window ] 'A number of underlying concerns, service gaps and issues were identified in a CHI service in 2021/2022, which needed to be explored and understood in greater detail, to ensure supportive action and corrective measures could be put in place where required. 'This internal review report was presented to and discussed at [the] Board. The recommendations were accepted, implemented and continue to be implemented. All appropriate action was taken. 'Strong, collaborative leadership and consistent good governance are the foundation of running effective, efficient, and best in class services across CHI. There has been immense change under way across all CHI sites for the last number of years. The merging of processes, policies, practices and cultures presents the opportunity to make meaningful, strategic, and sustainable change, all with a view to delivering a world class paediatric healthcare service.'
Sky News
16-05-2025
- Sky News
'Toxic' army unit charged with investigating sex crimes allowing abusers to 'get away with it' in own ranks, whistleblower says
More than a dozen women came forward to report a staff sergeant in the Royal Military Police (RMP) for sexual abuse, but he was allowed to resign from the army instead of face charges. That's the claim of a whistleblower who served as a sergeant in the RMP for over a decade and says she was one of the man's victims. Amy, not her real name, says a "toxic" culture in the military police means sexual predators in the army are "getting away with stuff that they shouldn't be getting away with". It's a rare insight into life inside the Royal Military Police, the corps charged with investigating crime in the army. Amy described how the man who assaulted her would go into women's rooms and sit on their beds. She says he used to force her to go out driving with him at night and talk about sex. "He preyed on the young, new females that were in the unit," she says. "One day, I was out with my friends in town and he was on patrol... There were two of us that went over to speak to him and I had quite a low-cut top on. "So he hooked his finger around my top and pulled my boob out". She recalls as she tried to stop him, "he grabbed my hand and put it on his penis". She claims there are other men in the RMP who've been accused of sexual offences, recalling hearing of five separate allegations of rape against male colleagues by female colleagues. "If all of this sexual assault and bullying and rapes are going on within the military police, how can they then go out and investigate the wider army for doing the same things?" she says. "It doesn't work." 'He got away with it' Looking back on her career in the army is difficult for Amy. After leaving, she tried to settle back into life as a civilian with a new job and a young family to look after, but says she worried about bumping into former colleagues in the street. "It's taken me a long time to heal," she says. "I was very bitter towards my military career when I left, but I've had to sort of learn, build myself up again and remember the good times because they were really good times as well... I think it was just so bad at points." When she joined the RMP, she believed she would be part of a unit "representing how the rest of the soldiers should be conducting themselves". The reality, she says, was that she had become part of "one of the most toxic" corps in the army. She recalls being told that the staff sergeant she had reported for sexual assault would be allowed to resign. "They basically told me he's not going to be charged, but will be leaving the military... doing him a favour," she says. "He got away with it all," she adds. "He's not going to lose his pension and whatever else he would have lost with a dishonourable discharge. "He's left without a criminal record... that's not safe for civilians as well, because it's not even on his record." 'They investigate themselves' Earlier this year, an inquest into the suicide of 19-year-old Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck found she had been failed by the army after reporting sexual assault and harassment. Since then, Sky News has reported claims of widespread abuse and growing calls for investigations into sexual offences to be removed from the RMP and instead carried out by civilian police. 5:59 The Labour chair of the influential House of Commons Defence Committee is now urging the government to act. Tan Dhesi told Sky News: "The system needs to change... incidents of sexual violence and sexual assault should be dealt with not by the Royal Military Police but by civilian police and civilian courts. "I hope that the government will be making that substantial change in the very, very near future; in fact, they should do it ASAP." Since Gunner Beck's death, a new tri-service complaints team has been announced by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The change will see bullying, harassment, discrimination related service complaints dealt with by a team outside the commands of the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force. However, Amy believes investigations need to be done "completely separately from the military". "Otherwise it doesn't work because friends will be investigating friends," she says. "I think there's such a male-dominated space in the military still. Women have no chance... and it's not fair because people are getting away with stuff that they shouldn't be getting away with and allowed to continue doing it and ruining lives." She believes the entire system lacks accountability. "They investigate themselves," she says, even down to how the RMP is regulated. "The people that run that unit are RMP. They get posted in, do a few years and then get posted back out." 'I was told off for reporting it' Katie, also not her real name, served in the army for over 20 years. She saw active service in Afghanistan and rose to the rank of Captain. It was a distinguished career that was brought to a premature end by sexual abuse and whistleblowing. Having taken the difficult decision to leave the army she now leads a secluded life and suffers poor mental health. "I still struggle," she says. "I'm still very wary of men. My relationship is strained. "Everything seems like black and white now, like I live my life in black and white rather than full colour... As a person, it has changed my life forever." To begin with, she was in the same unit that Gunner Beck would join years later. She too experienced harassment and abuse, and says her line manager "laughed" when she reported it. "I just felt like dehumanised, I felt like property, I didn't feel like a person anymore," she says. "And so I would avoid people... I would hide in the garages, behind the tanks, in between the guns, just praying that these people hadn't seen me and I might be able to escape them for that day." She moved to a different unit but says wherever she went, abuse was rife. After being groped by a higher-ranking colleague, she assumed her chain of command would escalate her report to the RMP. Instead, she says she was "put in front of the Sergeant Major and told off". "I remember at the time saying I'd like to call the civilian police, and I was told that I wasn't allowed to do that and I'd be disciplined if I tried to do that," she said. "So I was so frightened." She stayed in the army, hoping to make a difference. As an officer, she began reporting abusers on behalf of younger victims. "I kept this goal in my head of reaching a position one day where I could help other women," she said. "When I got there, I realised that it was way more toxic than I could have ever imagined. "The officer corps were actually the worst perpetrators of all because they brushed it under the carpet. There was a will and a need more to protect themselves or their friends. Or the reputation of the unit first and foremost." She believes changes made by the MoD since the death of Gunner Beck to remove the chain of command from sexual abuse investigations will make "little difference", saying they'll still be carried out by "the same people, but just under a new title". 'They should be held accountable' An MoD spokesperson told Sky News that "unacceptable and criminal behaviour has absolutely no place in our Armed Forces". They added: "That is why this government is creating a new Tri-Service Complaints team to take the most serious complaints out of the chain of single service command for the first time, and has launched a new central taskforce on Violence Against Women and Girls to give this issue the attention it deserves. "We are also establishing an independent Armed Forces Commissioner with the power to visit defence sites unannounced, and to investigate and report to parliament any welfare matters affecting service life." Amy believes the RMP is not fit for purpose. "They have higher standards to uphold, yet they don't uphold them within their own regiment, within their own lives, and then they're expected to police and uphold those standards throughout the rest of the army," she says. "At the end of the day, they know the law and they should be held accountable for what they do."
BBC News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
'Toxic' culture in Manx education department, union claims
A head teachers' union has raised a formal dispute with the education department on the Isle of Man, making claims of a "toxic culture" and an abuse of National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has written to the island's interim chief executive, Mark Lewin, also citing their concerns over alleged "bullying and intimidation of school leaders".The NAHT's Robert Kelsall has called for a meeting "at the earliest opportunity, to seek a resolution and to avoid any further escalation of this dispute".The Department of Education, Sport & Culture (Desc) said it acknowledged the serious nature of the concerns raised by the union, but "completely refutes" the allegations. "They do not reflect the standards or values we uphold within the department," it said, in a party has included the details of any specific cases which could have led to the collective dispute.A collective dispute is a complaint by a group of employees in connection with their employment, which is pursued on their behalf by the union representing them. Breakdown in relations In his letter, Mr Kelsall said the union had been "compelled to raise a formal collective dispute regarding a flagrant abuse of established policies and procedures, bullying and intimidation of school leaders, and the fostering of a toxic culture within Desc".The alleged breaches "disproportionately and exclusively" affect NAHT members and "represent a direct attack on the union membership and legitimate activities" of members and officials, Mr Kelsall stated there had been a "significant breakdown in industrial relations and a profound loss of trust and confidence in the senior leadership of the department". A Desc spokesman said the department believed the concerns stemmed "from a matter that has been under discussion for some time and remains subject to ongoing internal processes", adding it would be "inappropriate to comment further to ensure due process, fairness, and confidentiality".He said the department remained committed to "working constructively with all recognised teaching unions".He said Desc was "open to meaningful dialogue" and maintaining a "respectful and collaborative relationship with all education partners – including school leaders and their representatives". Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
Wall Street Journal
14-05-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
The Unraveling of the King of Davos
For decades, Klaus Schwab ruled over Davos like royalty. That reign ended when he hit 'send' on an email to World Economic Forum trustees on a recent Friday afternoon. Schwab was seemingly headed for a graceful exit from the organization he founded more than a half-century ago, after a 2024 investigation by The Wall Street Journal exposed evidence of a toxic culture at the Forum for women and Black employees. But by Friday, April 18, the trustees' audit committee recommended opening a probe into a new wave of whistleblower allegations against Schwab and his wife, Hilde.
