Do No Harm: Bullying and Harassment in the NHS

by David McCaffrey

'They called me out in front of patients, joked about me, belittled me, made me look and feel stupid, made me feel ugly... every look, word and smile I gave became harder and harder.' 'I was mentally and physically exhausted which led to a long period of sickness. I was later diagnosed with reactive depression.' 'My former colleagues are still there, the ones that bullied me, working in the same department as though nothing has happened.' These are just some of the stories that you will find within the pages of this book. Brave individuals, powerful recollections and heartbreaking realisations that an organisation which promotes caring is perhaps at the core of an insidious problem. "David’s book describes such a sad reality. Surely, now, the issue of bullying in the NHS cannot be swept under the rug!” Lise Budd Beynon. The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation

124 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 20, 2018

About the author

David lives in Redcar in the North East of England and currently works as an Infection Prevention and Control nurse in Hertfordshire. He has a Kelly, a Jake, a Liam a Moo Man, an Obi (the dog), a Padme, Ahsoka, and an Anakin (cats).

A huge fan of Steve Alten, John Grisham and Lee Childs, David loves reading as much as he enjoys writing. Hellbound was his first novel, all thanks to Britain's Next Bestseller and the aforementioned Steve Alten who took a chance on him as a writing coach client and taught him so much about what it takes to be a writer. It was voted by W H Smith readers as one of 2014's most underrated crime novels.

His second book, the novella prequel to Hellbound titled 'In Extremis' was published in 2015 and was a Semi finalist in the Kindle Book Awards 2016.
David ghost wrote 'By Any Means Necessary' with Stephen Sayers, released in 2016 and then returned to his Hellbound Anthology in 2017 with 'Nameless'.
All are available on Audible.co.uk.

’The Warmest Place to Hide', David's homage to all things David Cronenberg, was released in August 2018.
Two personal projects concerning bullying in the NHS were released in 2018 and 2021 respectively.

After a few years away from writing to deal with life stuff, David is back with a bang, with action-thriller ONE out now, Pandora, a horror book due out before the end of 2025 and a novella sequel to ONE due out in December 2025

Reviews

[Maxine (Booklover Catlady) · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a patient who has repeatedly experienced and seen bullying of other patients during many hospital stays I am on a mission of reading accounts from staff perspectives.

David’s brave opening up of systematic and cruel workplace bullying and games is an awful experience to have to share. I’ve been a victim of bullying myself in work and back in school then in hospitals as a patient and well know the enormous toll on your mental health and self-esteem.

How negligence he saw and actions not taken has destroyed lives, preventable things IS something happening daily across the NHS. This needs to stop.

I recently read a mind-boggling book written by a top Urologist after whistle blowing about severe negligence, often leading to death in hospitals he worked in. The result? He was bullied, ostracised and even had his pay cut by not just colleagues but those higher up the chain.

I see the NHS very different to most patients after experiencing horrendous life-altering medical negligence more than once that’s altered my life forever and given me Complex PTSD. I’ve been bullied by doctors and nursing staff to the cruelest degree.

So in a way I empathize greatly with David’s story and sad journey within our “world class” NHS. It’s an organisation that needs serious changes, intervention and a solid examination of staff who quite frankly do great harm.

Despite messages from the NHS to bring forth problems, staff will not be treated well if they do so. This is what bullies rely on. Your silence. Everybody seeing it also too scared to speak.

In comparison to other books I’ve read I would have liked to have seen a lot more pages to David’s story with expansion on a lot of areas including the effects of it. I think a longer, in-depth story would push this book up there with other books written that offer more detail and and truth-telling.

Like David and others I truly know that people and practices in the NHS are unbelievably grim and very, very dangerous. I can’t write as yet about my own cases but I will once I can.

Staff like David who speak out publicly through books or media get huge kudos from me. If everyone suffering spoke up perhaps then change can truly happen. It’s a poisoned work culture and whilst I am a patient and David worked within it I truly get what he went through.

I hope more people will read accounts such as this one and other books out there describing the most unbelievable things going on behind the ward and operating rooms in far too many hospitals.

Kudos for telling your story David. You are certainly not alone as a victim. Sadly, you are one of way too many.

Thanks so much for reading my review of this book. Join me as a friend or follower and feel free to browse my shelves for your next great book! I love to connect with other readers.

[donatella rinaldi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting idea but repetitive

The idea behind the book, collect narratives of bullying in the NHS , was a very good start but the content of the book is quite repetitive, there is poor editing of the testimonies collected and circular arguments.

[EILEEN ELIZABETH TILLEY · Rating 5 out of 5]

At Last

Thank you David for making a stand ,I bow to you
I hope you continue in your success with your book

[Michelle Fleming · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important book

Anyone who has been bullied in the NHS will be reassured by the contents of this book as it shows you are not alone.