The RACGP has called on medical colleges, health organisations and government to work together to better protect GPs from experiencing sexual harassment and demeaning behaviour from patients.
The college said that reform is urgently needed and released a new resource in September for those impacted, Responding to sexual harassment by patients: A brief guide for general practices, which includes information on:
- how to respond to sexual harassment by patients
- what to do if you witness another person being sexually harassed at your practice
- how you can respond if a patient is stalking you
- discontinuation of care when safety concerns exist
- disclosure of an act of sexual harassment by a patient
The resource highlights that a 2018 study by the Australian Human Rights Commission revealed that 71% of Australian adults have been sexually harassed at some point in their lifetime, including 85% women and 56% of men, and while limited data exist on the prevalence of sexual harassment of GPs by patients, in one 2011 study, 6% of Australian GPs reported having been sexually harassed in the previous year.
Female GPs and early-career GPs reported more frequent sexual harassment than their male counterparts or GPs with more experience, and other general practice team members with frontline, patient-facing roles were also found to be at risk.
RACGP President Adj. Professor Karen Price said that regrettably, sexual harassment is extremely common in Australian society and must be met head on.
“Sadly, sexual harassment of GPs, particularly female GPs, is all too common [and] this resource is desperately needed given the incidents that happen every day,” Professor Price pointed out.
“One Australian study found that almost 55% of female Australian GPs had been sexually harassed by a patient at some point in their career, [and] almost 10% of those had been sexually harassed more than eight times.
“It is also the case that although all health professionals must be appropriate and respectful in how they interact with every single patient, there is no corresponding requirement or rubric for patients. Instead, patient misconduct often goes unacknowledged or unreported and sadly GPs often take the brunt of this.”
Unfortunately, many female Australian GPs who have experienced sexual harassment report changing the way they practise as a result, with some altering their dress, their manner in consultations and/or their hours of practice – opting to refrain from performing particular examinations or from working alone.
“There are gaps in the system that leave GPs vulnerable to sexual harassment,” Professor Price said.
“For example, if a patient has a history of acting inappropriately with female GPs in one state or across different jurisdictions, there is no mechanism in place allowing any GP to know what that patient has done in the past – the GP is effectively flying blind.
“Clearly that is something that needs to be fixed – so that these bad actors can’t target different GPs again and again and potentially get away with it.”
The resource notes that a practice can discontinue care for a patient when there are safety concerns for the practice team and others who attend the practice and similarly, if a patient poses a threat to the safety of staff and management believe others may be in danger, there are circumstances in which the practice is entitled to make disclosures about that patient.
“The RACGP’s advice to members is that if they experience sexual harassment, there are circumstances in which it can be disclosed, so, there is some precedent or at least a base there to build on,” Professor Price explained.
“This is a discussion that general practice, medical colleges, health organisation and government need to have.”
RACGP WA Chair Dr Ramya Raman said that questions must be asked of how to better protect GPs just trying to do their job helping patients.
“I know it is easier said than done; however, it is vital that anyone subjected to sexual harassment recognises that this behaviour should never be tolerated and speak up,” Dr Raman said.
“Standing up to patients who are behaving in an inappropriate or demeaning way and reporting sexual harassment is so important – it is about achieving that cultural shift so that GPs feel empowered to say, ‘this is not okay’.
“At the end of the day enough is enough, the nation’s GPs deserve far better: every person is entitled to a safe workplace and GPs and other members of the practice team are no different – all patients have a responsibility to treat GPs and their teams with respect.”