This kind of behaviour is prevalent within the public sector. Financial and staff cuts leading to too few staff to get the job done and under pressure managers leaning on their staff. Despite the tabloid press saying how cushy it is for public sector workers the reality is something different.
This Managers behaviour is not far short of bullying. either deliberate or due to circumstances. Either way, unacceptable. The NHS will have a bully policy. Get a copy and read it. If you or your missus believes any of it applies, then use it! It isn't pleasant, but sometimes it's the only way forward.

Good idea on the policy's in place

Re other comments about getting out of the job, she has/is considering this

pb1008 wrote:

This kind of behaviour is prevalent within the public sector. Financial and staff cuts leading to too few staff to get the job done and under pressure managers leaning on their staff. Despite the tabloid press saying how cushy it is for public sector workers the reality is something different.
This Managers behaviour is not far short of bullying. either deliberate or due to circumstances. Either way, unacceptable. The NHS will have a bully policy. Get a copy and read it. If you or your missus believes any of it applies, then use it! It isn't pleasant, but sometimes it's the only way forward.

Absolutely agree though to do anything about this will need the involvement and support of the union and ideally the group of workers standing together and taking action as a group. I have seen that work spectacularly well in both NHS and LA. I have also seen individuals picked off because they protested without those sources of support.

I worked all my life in public sector, the last 20 years as a manager and in the 4 or 5 years before I retired saw a gross deterioration of management behaviour, standards and competency. Sometimes as a result of inappropriate people being promoted, often as a result of the pressures being brought to bear to do the impossible with b r all resources. Some managers are just bad, some are being bullied themselves and respond by bullying others. The castration of unions has made this more common but in NHS they still have some clout IF the workplace rep cuts the mustard.

SakoQuad
I should clarify my 24/7 365 comment.
It is not a financial contract, rather a moral "Hippocratical" obligation she has towards the community she serves.

In these mountains normal out-of-hours response is undertaken by the "emergency duty" doctor, however due to the topography and distances involved he/she may either be too far away or attending to another emergency. Likewise, in the whole of our Kantone there is only one paramedic staffed ambulance on duty 24/7. If that is out on a call then the reserve vehicle and crew have to be called out from home with the attendant and potentially fatal delay. Finally there is also one locally based Helivac unit. Again if that is called out, or is assisting in a neighbouring Kantone then Katharina is the closest professional help available. She gets a call she goes.

Now factor in the weather and night time to those inadequate resources. Since a night Helivac crashed 7yrs ago killing all 5 on board including her predecessor there is a blanket ban on night flights. Also no day flights in any weather where visibility is down to less than 200mtrs. Seventy percent of the total land mass of our Kantone is mountain terrain over 3500ft asl., rising to 9,000ft. In winter's deep snow even the 4x4 Mercedes platformed ambulance would take at best 40 minutes to get from the hospital to her surgery location - when it's available.

So now you may see why she feels she has a social responsibility contract 24/7 365 - financial reward plays no role in these circumstances. The community of GP's in this Kantone are desperately fighting to get the powers that be to substantially increase at least the on-the-ground emergency response resources, but so far with little success. And the Helivac unit's base is under threat of transfer to another Kantone.

Despite the health provision in this country is all via ones own paid private insurance (third most expensive in the world) (no NHS here) money always comes first in Switzerland - lives second.

sorry Athelstan I meant no criticism or to denigrate your wife's dedication in any way. I did assume she was contracted for her services as that is how the many doctors I know here operate, the fact that she does so much on a voluntary basis is a huge credit to her.

I guess though that the point I was trying to make still has validity, there is a world of difference between having jobs or callings where one accepts and expects to be available for work "on demand" according to the need of people or businesses and being a low paid employee who is made to feel used and abused as a result of the behaviour of a manager or employer.

I had the privilege of doing work that also involved the need for considerable flexibility and availability especially when I was younger. I was paid reasonably well, though considerably less than I could have earned elsewhere, but my biggest rewards were from being able to do the work. Most importantly I knew what was going to be involved and I chose to do it.

I have seen the way that some staff, especially those in lower grade jobs are treated these days by managers in NHS and Local Government and it is not acceptable. It seems to me that npinks partner is one of those who find themselves in that position right now.

Indeed what you have observed in your career SakoQuad sadly happens all to often - more so in the public sector where folks peruse their "vocation" in life rather than a bank balance motivated career choice. You have succinctly identified that as a career accept vis-a-vié expect.

The privatisation by stealth of the NHS that the Tories are conducting is reprehensible and needs to be exposed at every opportunity. The WHO consistently rate the NHS as the world's best socially funded health care provider, outperforming every individual private health service provider.

What folks don't realise is that the NHS has never bankrupted an individual in the pursuit of payment unlike health insurers do. Neither has the NHS denied at the point of delivery treatment to those in need. That cannot be said for those whose insurers refuse to reinsure because of their clinical history. This last point is one which Katharina spends most of her administrative time making the case for screening or certain drug or operative treatments/procedures that the patient's health insurer has refused!

The NHS is not perfect - there is room for improvement. That process should start at eliminating those employees who are simply not qualified to do their job both administratively and clinically - before Whitehall campaigners and lobbyists call for simple politically appealing budget cuts.

I couldn't agree more!

The old saying that "you don't appreciate what you have until you lose it" is never more true than when referring to our health services. God knows there are some areas that are poor and need turning over but compared to some of the alternatives we should be fighting for it with all our strength.