This course explains how aggressive, intimidating or bullying behaviour at work affects patient safety and colleagues, and why regulators treat it as a fitness to practise matter. It teaches you to recognise the behaviour in yourself, understand what drives it, repair working relationships, and build a reflection and remediation plan with evidence.
What you will learn
- Define bullying, harassment and incivility in UK workplace and legal terms, and recognise examples in clinical settings.
- Explain how poor workplace behaviour harms patient safety, team performance and public trust in the professions.
- Identify the personal, team and system factors that make aggressive or intimidating behaviour more likely, including stress and hierarchy.
- Take appropriate immediate steps after a concern is raised about your behaviour, including apology, reflection and seeking advice.
- Write a structured reflection and a remediation plan that includes verified, sustained evidence of changed behaviour.
Course content
- Why workplace behaviour matters (2 min)
- Defining the behaviour: incivility, bullying and harassment (4 min)
- The impact on patients, colleagues and teams (3 min)
- Why it happens: stress, hierarchy and culture (3 min)
- After a concern is raised: immediate actions (3 min)
- What regulators expect: insight and remediation (3 min)
- Case study: a weak and a strong reflection (4 min)
- Building your remediation plan (2 min)
- Knowledge check (10 questions, 10 min)
- Guided reflection (15 min)
Standards and guidance covered
- GMC: Good Medical Practice (2024), including the duties to treat colleagues with kindness, courtesy and respect, and not to act in a way that could be seen as bullying, harassment or discrimination
- NMC: The Code (2015, updated 2018), including the sections on working cooperatively, treating people with kindness and respect, and upholding the reputation of the professions
- HCPC: Standards of conduct, performance and ethics (2024), including the standards on communicating appropriately and on being honest and trustworthy
- GPhC: Standards for pharmacy professionals (2017), including working in partnership and behaving in a professional manner
- Equality Act 2010, including the definition of harassment and the employer duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment
Certificate
Courses are free to study. When you pass the knowledge check (80%) and complete your reflection, you can buy a verified certificate showing your CPD time, with a unique ID and QR code that anyone can check on our verification page.
Study free at your own pace on any device.
Practitioner Insight is an independent education provider. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the GMC, MPTS, NMC, HCPC, GPhC or any NHS organisation, and this information is not legal advice. If you have been referred to a regulator, speak to your defence organisation, trade union or legal representative.