Our Sexual Misconduct in Surgery Survey
Professor John Skinner is acknowledged as an advocate for our work and member of the working party 2022-2023. Here he introduces Homa Arshad for the survey launch at the British Orthopaedic Association during his presidential year:
We have undertaken a comprehensive study of the UK and Irish surgical workforce in association with the University of Exeter to better understand experiences, insights, and perspectives on working in healthcare.
This included the experiences of doctors, surgeons, dentists, nurses, medical students, dental students, nursing students and other allied healthcare professionals. It looked in particular at the prevalence and impact of sexual misconduct in surgery. It was important to get responses representing the breadth of surgical experience, including from those who have never witnessed or experienced sexual misconduct, to accurately assess the current situation.
This online survey received HRA Approval, and approval from the University of Exeter Psychology Research Ethics Committee. It aimed to collect data and document experiences of UK and Irish surgeons. It took approximately 10-30 minutes to complete, depending on how much participants had or wished to share.
Please note that the survey was not a mechanism to raise concerns about individual named perpetrators.
There are more details about the safe-handling of data at the beginning of the survey, and advice available for those impacted by sexual misconduct and/or by issues raised by the survey.
There were no right or wrong answers, and participants could give as little or as much detail as they wish. This is a really important time to find out what is happening, and to use the results in an effective way to promote safe working environments in the healthcare professions.
The survey went live on 20/09/2022 and was circulated by RCS England, Health Education England, Association of Surgeons in Training, British Orthopaedic Trainees Association, and others. Some of the data were published in our paper (see our home page).
If you have any questions with relation to the survey, please contact wins@rcseng.ac.uk
