Almost half of hospital staff in east Kent say they have been bullied at work, the Gazette can reveal.

A staggering 42% of employees within the trust reported instances of bullying, harassment and abuse by other staff members – close to double the national average.

Last September health watchdogs placed the trust under special measures after revealing a culture of managerial bullying.

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission identified “a disconnect” between managers and frontline employees.

“Culture doesn’t change overnight. But we have started that journey”

They also uncovered “serious failures in patient safety and leadership”. Chief executive Chris Bown – parachuted in on a salary of nearly £300,000 to help save the ailing trust – admitted the issue needed addressing.

He said: “Bullying and harassment within the workplace are totally unacceptable and we are continuing to make unwavering efforts to tackle this behaviour head-on and support staff where needed.

"We have come a long way in a short time, but we realise there is still work to do and we will continue our drive to ensuring that intimidation and harassment have no place here.”

Following its September visit, the CQC imposed a programme of improvements needed in order to see the trust pulled out of special measures. Inspectors have since visited last month and the trust awaits the outcome.

The trust’s annual report compares the 2013-2014 financial year with 2014-2015. It reveals that nationally an average of 24% of health staff reported instances of bullying, harassment or abuse when responding to a survey in 2013-2014.

Despite a drop to 23% a year later, the East Kent health trust’s own results rocketed from 31% to 42%.

In an interview with the Gazette earlier this year, Mr Bown said: “The trust was placed in special measures by the CQC.

I think it was a fair assessment. One of the big issues was around culture. Having spent eight weeks talking to staff about their experiences, it is clear they recognise what the CQC is saying.”

Mr Bown said measures were being rolled out to counter the bullying culture.“We have a programme in place now to make sure people are happy about coming forward about being bullied,” he said.

“We have got phone lines for people to report instances of bullying. We have a work buddy system in place. We are providing training for management.”

He also insisted the bullying was not only from management directed at juniors. “This isn’t just managerial bullying,” said Mr Bown. “NHS staff surveys over last five years have not been good, but we are where we are.

“Culture doesn’t change overnight. But we have started that journey.”

Hamza Aumeer, the Royal College of Nursing’s senior regional officer for Kent, welcomed efforts made by the trust to address the concerns of frontline staff.

Workers were confident that the picture would improve when fresh figures were published in October, he said.

“We are pleased to see that East Kent Health Trust has made some positive steps to mitigate these figures. The trust has been working hard with the Royal College of Nursing and other unions on a number of measures to bring these figures down.”