In 2018 a group of senior clinicians at NHS Highland reported that a culture of bullying had existed for at least a decade. They described a ‘practice of suppressing criticism, which emanated from the very top of the organisation’ and led to a culture of ‘fear and intimidation’ which has had a detrimental effect on staff. John Sturrock QC found there were hundreds of people who had experienced bullying. A review was contacted by 340 people from most departments, services, and occupations. Over 280 had face-to-face meetings or made written submissions of bullying experiences. Staff said they had not felt valued, respected or supported in carrying out ‘very stressful work’. In 2021 NHS Highland expects to pay £3.4m in settlements to current and former staff who experienced bullying. Whistleblower Brian Devlin said the scale of settlements so far was ‘heartening’, but he had heard that some bullying still continues.