Within Ambulance Care Groningen there is structurally transgressive behavior such as bullying, gossip, intimidation and stalking. This is the conclusion of research bureau Het Zuiderlicht after discussions with eighty (former) employees.
Dagblad van het Noorden reported last autumn about the unhealthy work culture within the organization. According to the newspaper, there was, among other things, sexual transgressive behavior. That was the reason for the organization to call in the research agency.
This concludes in a report that there is a culture of fear and that there is a broad feeling of dissatisfaction among at least a quarter of the staff. The problems are in all layers of the organization and signals about this are systematically covered up and trivialized by management.
Some rotten apples
The friction takes place on the shop floor, but also between the head office and the employees. The researchers speak of “a few bad apples” who are guilty of, for example, bullying and gossip behavior and see a large gap between managers at the head office and employees at the ambulance posts.
The number of people within Ambulance Care Groningen who reported for psychological help increased rapidly. In 2020 there were six employees, last year there were thirty. The researchers speak of “examples from the organization where it has failed to make desirable and undesirable behavior publicly discussable and to make agreements about this with each other”.
The agency advocates “a broad cultural intervention” to break through this, summarizes RTV Noord.
‘Care suffers’
According to the researchers, the care provided suffers from the abuses. There is talk of a “wider neglect of business activities”.
Interim director Jack Thiadens does not dispute the findings about the culture in the organization: “I have felt that myself in the three weeks that I have been here. I would like to see a safe working atmosphere. There is a lack of a strong moral compass here, which you can expect from a healthcare organization. It is clear that there have been mistakes in all layers of the organization.”
Thiadens wants to have an improvement plan on the table within six weeks. He disagrees with the conclusions in the report about the quality of the care provided. “The inhabitants of Groningen are helped very professionally by our people.”
- Employers go too far after reporting cross-border behaviour
- Confidential advisers: ‘More attention and reports of transgressive behaviour’
- Municipality of Enschede is investigating a possible culture of fear
