Call centers can provide a rewarding working environment, but a survey by UNISON, the largest public sector trade union, found that they can also create stress. Staff can feel less like human beings and more like an extension of technology. The survey included local councils, the health helpline NHS Direct, as well as other call centres. As call centers develop into contact centers and become a primary route of access to public services, the survey findings will have an increasing influence on design of new services.Call center stress results mainly from the computer taking control and driving the operation. Data is collected automatically minute by minute and in most centres an overhead LED display shows the number of calls waiting and the longest time waited. When a call is completed the computer automatically puts the next caller through and there is no choice, nor time to make a note or pause for any other reason. In some centres the equipment detects longer than average calls and a flashing light warns that the conversation should be ‘wrapped-up.
Black and Asian doctors are demoralised, bitter and angry about racism in the medical profession. In ‘Racism in Medicine’ published by the King’s Fund it is claimed that discrimination begins in medical schools and affects the whole of a doctor’s career. This includes harassment and bullying, from both colleagues and patients. Recent figures show that for many years they have been far less likely than white colleagues to get the best jobs in medicine they are still more likely to end up working in unpopular specialties and in inner-city general practice. They are also far less likely to become consultants.The book shows that prejudicial assumptions about the abilities and lifestyles of black and Asian doctors are commonplace among white colleagues. Such assumptions hold back people’s careers and can sometimes expose them to abuse and exclusion.