SRS07 - Psychosocial safety climate, mistreatment and burnout among surgeons and surgical trainees in the United Kingdom

Abstract Aim To investigate psychosocial safety climate (PSC—perceptions of policies, practises and procedures that protect employee psychological health and safety), mistreatment and burnout among UK surgeons and surgical trainees. Methods An online survey was available between January and June 2025. The survey was shared through social media channels, personal contacts, and surgical/medical societies. Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations were conducted to explore relationships between variables. Results Data analysis was performed on 256 survey responses. The gender ratio was 5 female:9 male, with 37% trainees and 63% consultants. Half of respondents (50%) were categorised as working in a ‘very high-risk PSC’, followed by ‘high risk PSC’ (33%). Experiences of mistreatment in the last 12 months were high: 71% bullying, 58% sexual harassment (SH), and 57% discrimination. There was a strong negative correlation between PSC and experiences of bullying r(254) = −-.57, P < 0.01, and a weak negative correlation between PSC and SH r(254) = −.26, P < 0.01. Most respondents (58%) scored highly on one or more dimensions of burnout. There was a strong positive correlation between bullying and emotional exhaustion (EE) r(253) = .56, P < 0.01 and a weak positive correlation between SH and EE, r(253) = .24, P < 0.01. Conclusions The study findings concerning mistreatment prevalence in UK surgery and associations with mistreatment and burnout correspond with those observed in other countries. This is the first study in the UK to explore PSC in UK surgery—results suggest PSC should be considered when designing preventative interventions for reducing mistreatment.