Policy briefing: GOC reports on impact of bullying, harassment, abuse and discrimination in the workplace

The General Optical Council (GOC) has published a qualitative research report exploring the lived experiences of 38 registrants (optometrists and DOs) who have experienced harassment, bullying, abuse or discrimination at work.

What has been published?

The new report was commissioned following findings from recent GOC registrant surveys which indicated that there was bullying, harassment, abuse and discrimination taking place in optical workplaces. The GOC report highlights the adverse personal impact of these experiences, the knock-on effect on safe patient care, and makes recommendations on how to tackle or mitigate such behaviours.

Using in-depth, semi-structured interviews all 38 participants reported negative experiences, some reports arise from a single issue and others describe experiences that are multi-factorial. The findings provide a complex picture of mistreatment, negative perceptions, damaging cultures and the potential harm to practitioner and patient.

Participants candidly discussed their experiences covering everything from: physical, verbal or cyber bullying; discrimination based on gender, religion, race or sexuality; harassment at work, typically in the form of sexual harassment; and abusive or aggressive comments or behaviours from patients. Direct racial abuse from patients was a common occurrence, and bullying or discrimination was reported as predominantly coming from employers or colleagues and often being related to commercial pressures. Sometimes, the two main sources of mistreatment overlapped with patient abuse or discrimination being ignored by employers so as to not affect sales.

Interview participants reported on the impact of these experiences, including increased levels of stress, anxiety and/or depression, physical symptoms (such as dizziness or migraines) and effects on confidence or self-esteem. Participants often felt that patient care may have been indirectly impacted because of their own mistreatment, reporting difficulties in providing more personalised or ‘caring’ behaviours.

Loss of job satisfaction over recent years was also reported. This was attributed to an increase in workload, commercial pressures and interprofessional dynamics which has led to reduced engagement in their work and/or career progression in some cases. Further to this, a trend for participants carrying their experiences of harassment, bullying, abuse or discrimination at work with them throughout their career was notable. This unfortunate impact has been influencing working patterns, what type of practice they worked in, and whether to work as a locum or as a permanent member of staff.

In 2023, the GOC led on a joint statement committing to a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, harassment, abuse, and discrimination across all working environments in optics. The statement “commits to working together to create a safe and positive environment for all members of the optical team.” Safely and confidently disclosing and addressing these incidents of bullying, harassment or discrimination as they happen should be a standard and clear process for all practitioners.

The report reveals that there are still barriers to disclosing these experiences. These include:

• Not being able to find the right person to raise concerns to
• Worry about adverse impacts of reporting, such as threatening their reputation or career prospect
• Concern about reporting behaviour with no evidence
• Low faith/confidence in change.

Discussing ways in which the participants thought these negative behaviours could be effectively addressed in the workplace, there were a handful of key elements:

• A roadmap of what to do if they experience these behaviours
• An established leader within this roadmap to address concerns
• Peer support
• Career-long education regarding how to recognise and act upon mistreatment
• Leadership from the GOC to provide industry wide communication of both expectations of appropriate behaviour and consequences if these expectations are breached.

What do we say?

The GOC report, while drawing on a ‘snapshot’ of the profession, highlights that there is still much to be done in terms of eradicating the negative behaviours experienced by half of the profession (2024 Registrant Workforce and Perceptions Survey). While the report findings cannot be considered fully representative of the profession as a whole, due to the small sample size and targeted selection criteria, the issues raised have been well recognised and documented in previous research. The personal accounts shared in this research reveal deeply troubling and abhorrent examples of discrimination that must be tackled head on. This is not an acceptable situation for any profession, or workplace and we are committed to continuing to foster a more positive environment, as well as providing support for members who find themselves facing discrimination in the workplace.

We also welcome the GOC taking decisive action on these findings, in particular their recent use of regulatory levers and the new Business Standards to address unacceptable behaviours within the profession. The GOC standards review of the last year has included a marked move towards inclusivity in workplace environments and a new Head of Practice role for business compliance. This will support an increased focus in this area, and we continue to engage with the GOC and the wider sector to ensure that future standards and guidance, designed to tackle bullying, harassment or discrimination, are truly representative of our membership needs.