Members of parliament have reacted to a “shocking” report which described widespread bullying, racism and sexism at an NHS trust.
An independent review into the general surgery department at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust found serious concerns around bullying, harassment and discrimination.
A summary version of the report, produced in July 2026, said women, ethnic minority staff and non-consultant doctors were among those experiencing the greatest harm.
The full report has not been released.
Helena Dollimore, MP for Hastings and Rye, called the findings “shocking” and said action must be taken to stamp out bullying, harassment and discrimination.
Josh Babarinde, MP for Eastbourne, described the findings as “completely and utterly unacceptable”.
The Trust runs Conquest Hospital in St Leonards and Eastbourne District General Hospital.
However, members of staff told The Argus that the reported problems are principally centred on Conquest, where much of the Trust’s major general surgery, on-call work and robotic surgery takes place.
The review was commissioned in January after staff raised concerns about the department’s culture, behaviour and the actions of specific clinicians.
The summary report said a “significant proportion” of staff had personally experienced bullying, harassment or discrimination, with non-consultant medical staff, women and ethnic minority colleagues experiencing the most acute harm.
It said Asian and Asian British staff reported the most severely compromised experience of inclusion and belonging of any ethnic group surveyed.
It also said Black and Black British staff scored 'zero' when asked whether leaders dealt with everyone fairly.
Much of the blame for the situation was placed on leadership within the surgery department.
You can read more about the report's findings here: Damning report slams East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust | The Argus
Ms Dollimore said: “The findings of this report are shocking.
“Action must be taken to stamp out bullying, harassment and discrimination in our NHS.
“If not, we risk losing talented staff that the Conquest Hospital requires to deliver the care residents in Hastings, Rye and the villages need.
“I will be asking serious questions of East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust on how they are going to put it right.”
Mr Babarinde said he was “deeply concerned” by the review’s findings, particularly the experiences reported by women, ethnic minority staff and non-consultant doctors.
He said: “This is completely and utterly unacceptable.
“Not only is this behaviour awful for those involved, it also does an injustice to all those amazing NHS staff who have not put a foot wrong and who work so hard to drive a positive culture within their workplace.
“There must be zero tolerance for bullying, harassment and discrimination in our NHS, or anywhere.”
Mr Babarinde warned that a failure to address the findings properly could result in experienced staff leaving and make recruitment more difficult.
In response, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust claimed that bullying, harassment, racism, sexism and any other form of discrimination had “no place” in the organisation.
Dr Simon Merritt, chief medical officer at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “Our values of kindness, inclusivity and integrity are not optional; they define the standard of behaviour expected from every colleague.
"Any conduct that falls short of those values is unacceptable and does not reflect the culture that we expect in any part of our organisation.”
He said feedback from colleagues indicated that the Trust’s speak-up processes were well respected.
However, the review found that many employees did not feel safe speaking up and had little confidence that raising concerns would produce fair, timely or protective action.
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Dr Merritt said the Trust had already taken “clear action”.
He said: “Investigations are underway and follow-up actions are ongoing, including embedding dedicated support to attend meetings, provide guidance and offer confidential advice to colleagues within the team.”
He added that the review had raised issues that were “hard to hear”, but said the honesty of staff who came forward was driving the necessary change.
Dr Merritt said: “We are committed to ensuring meaningful, visible improvement across our surgical teams.”
The trust said it would publish the themes of the actions it has taken and report on progress against them after six months.
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