A survey conducted by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) found that contract difficulties, bullying and undermining behaviour were commonly faced by doctors working flexibly or less than full time.
A seven-point action plan has been proposed to address these issues and the AoMRC has called on member organisations to offer web resources, support networks and to provide mentoring and career advice.
The BMA said the results were important in showing the challenges faced by doctors working in this way and echoed what it had been hearing from doctors.
The survey included 1,287 respondents, of whom nearly 50% were specialty trainees, 24% were consultants, and 4.3% were staff, associate specialists and specialty doctors.
Results showed that 23.5% of women, 35.5% of men and 42% of those declaring a disability or long-term health problem had difficulty negotiating the time commitment of their current contract. About a quarter of women and men said they had been bullied at some point in their career.
In addition, more than half of the doctors who answered a question about undermining behaviour said they had been subjected to persistent undermining behaviour as a result of their less than full time working.
BMA equality and diversity committee chair Krishna Kasaraneni stated that the results echo what what BMA members have been saying for some time. She said: “The BMA is currently looking at ways to better support doctors working less than full time and we have also produced guidance for doctors dealing with discrimination, which can be accessed via the BMA website.”
