February 20, 2001 10:16: A MEMBER of staff at Darent Valley Hospital has accused chief executive Anne-Marie Dean of being a bully.

The hospital worker, who did not want to be named, said Mrs Dean screams at her staff and slams doors.

The informant claims the chairman's secretary now wants to move departments after being yelled at "for not writing private and confidential on an envelope".

The employee said: "It was a simple mistake and yet she screamed at the secretary. But this is not an isolated case, she bullies a lot of people.

"There was another case where a secretary was photocopying and made a mistake.

"Mrs Dean shouted at her and then slammed her office door so hard the wall began to shake."

The employee explained Mrs Dean's character "is very up and down.

"She's either in a good mood or in a bad mood and when she's in a good mood staff are shocked," it was alleged.

"She often screams from the double doors at the end of her corridor.

"If she is angry with a member of staff, instead of taking them into her office, she will shout at them in front of everybody else.

"Her bullying tactics are very familiar to staff and I think it is completely unacceptable for a chief executive to be behaving like that.

"And her behaviour is getting worse and worse she is becoming more and more unprofessional."

When the News Shopper asked the employee if they wanted Mrs Dean to resign, they said "yes, she is not acting like a chief executive should".

A hospital spokesman said: "The trust has effective and agreed policies to deal with staff grievances or concerns in place.

"These may be raised by individuals or groups within the organisation.

"The management always deals with such matters carefully and sympathetically. If a member of staff wishes to raise any matter the mechanism exists for that to be done.

"As a matter of policy the trust will not comment on personal issues to the media or third parties."