Bullying, Harassment and Workplace Civility in Healthcare

This bullying and harassment training helps health and care professionals understand bullying, harassment and incivility, and their own part in a respectful workplace. It explains how the three differ, what they look like on wards, in practices and in pharmacies, and why they take hold in health and care teams. Just as importantly, it explains what bullying is not: a manager who gives clear, private feedback with examples and a support plan is doing their job.

The course then covers the impact on staff and patient safety, the legal framework and professional standards across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the practical skills that change things: checking your own behaviour, giving fair feedback, including colleagues, acting as a bystander, speaking up, and responding if you are bullied or accused of bullying.

It is written for all clinical and non-clinical staff, and is particularly useful for team leaders and managers. It is designed to take approximately 2 hours, including reading, reflection points, a written reflective account and a 15-question assessment. You buy and take it on our course portal; see the course catalogue for related titles. Healthcare Practise UK is an independent provider, not affiliated with any UK regulator or the NHS.

Module 3 is one of the most detailed in the course, because the rules differ by nation and by type of behaviour.

The course is clear that bullying not linked to a protected characteristic falls outside equality law but is still a breach of professional standards and employer policy. It is equally clear that seniority, skill and pressure are no excuse. Our regulator pages cover each regulator's wider expectations.

• Understanding bullying, harassment and incivility. Definitions and the spectrum of behaviour, what bullying looks like in healthcare, what it is not, and why it takes hold.
• The impact on people, teams and patients. Harm to individuals, the effect on teamwork and patient safety (such as a junior doctor who delays calling a registrar who has mocked her before), and the cost to organisations.
• The law and professional standards. Equality law, other legal protections and the duty of care, regulators' expectations and organisational policies across the UK.
• Your responsibilities as a colleague. Checking your own behaviour, giving feedback and managing performance fairly, including and supporting colleagues, and behaviour in group chats, email and social media.
• If you are being bullied or harassed. Recognising what is happening and keeping records, informal options, formal routes and looking after yourself.
• Bystanders, speaking up and leadership. Acting as a bystander, speaking up and whistleblowing in each nation, responding if you are accused, and leading a culture of civility.

Case illustrations include a newly qualified nurse given the heaviest allocation and told to "toughen up", an operating department practitioner who keeps notes on a pattern of dismissive behaviour, and a senior physiotherapist who learns her feedback has humiliated junior staff, takes coaching and improves her multi-source feedback over six months.

The reflective account asks what you have learned about the difference between bullying, harassment, incivility and legitimate management; how colleagues experience your behaviour under pressure and what feedback you could seek; and what you will do differently as a colleague, bystander or leader.

The assessment has 15 scenario-based questions, from whether a documentation conversation counts as bullying to which route might give whistleblowing protection when a bullying culture affects patient safety. The pass mark is 12 out of 15 (80%), and you can revisit sections and try again. On completion you receive a certificate of completion from Healthcare Practise UK.

For CPD, record the time you actually spend. Nurses, midwives and nursing associates should note that self-directed online learning normally counts towards the NMC's individual CPD hours rather than its 20 participatory hours, unless you complete it with others. Doctors reflect on CPD at appraisal; the GMC does not set fixed hours. The HCPC, GDC, GPhC, GOC, GOsC, GCC and Social Work England each set their own CPD rules, so check what applies to you, and check whether your employer requires a specific course. Keep your certificate and your reflection together.

Teams and managers. The course supports awareness but does not replace any training your employer requires. Many organisations use it alongside their own dignity at work policy, for example to give a team a shared language after a staff survey or a difficult period. Managers can buy team credits, assign the course and track completions and certificates.

Speaking up. The lessons on whistleblowing explain the Freedom to Speak Up guardian role in England, which continues in trusts after the National Guardian's Office closed in 2026, the National Whistleblowing Standards in Scotland, and the arrangements in Wales and Northern Ireland. They also explain why a personal grievance is usually handled differently from a concern about a culture that is putting patients at risk.

If you are accused. The course shows what a constructive response looks like: listening rather than defending, seeking honest feedback, apologising where appropriate and showing sustained change. If a formal process is under way, take advice from your union or defence organisation. Our conduct and trust remediation page explains how courses fit a wider plan.

This course belongs to our conduct and professional behaviour group. It pairs well with Managing Anger and Professional Behaviour in Healthcare, Tackling Discrimination, Racism and Unconscious Bias in Healthcare and Sexual Safety and Preventing Sexual Misconduct in Healthcare. For help choosing, use the which course do I need tool.