FUTURE medical, dental, nursing, pharmacy and physiotherapy workers are already encountering widespread distressing situations as trainees, the British Medical Journal revealed yesterday.

According to a study by Cardiff and Dundee universities, a worrying number of British healthcare students experience unethical situations and abuse at work at the hands of senior staff.

Diminished morale results in decreased empathy for patients, “compassion fatigue,” poor wellbeing and high staff turnover — all of which can pose risks to vulnerable patients.

More than 75 per cent of 2,397 medical students and 1,399 in other healthcare sectors said they had been victims of intimidation and humiliation by medics and, sometimes, patients in the past year.

Only 10 per cent reported having experienced no professional dilemmas in the previous 12 months.