The health board, which employs around 16,000 staff and serves about 660,000 people within south-east Wales, started researching the issue after identifying some challenges with its disciplinary process and the way that it was being enacted.

The health board's HR team reviewed its investigations over a 15-month period and discovered that of 109 investigations, more than 50% had led to no sanctions.

The research shows that the average cost of an investigation is £20,000, with investigations lasting 265 days on average, which impacts on health, wellbeing, and causes psychological distress to everyone involved in the process. It also disturbs psychological safety and the trust and confidence in the management of the organisation.

Andrew Cooper, head of programmes at the health board, told the King's Fund Annual Conference: ‘The disciplinary process that we've researched is an incredibly harmful process so while there are occasions that this should be used – this work is not about removing the disciplinary policy from the organisation - it is about treating it far more respectfully.'

He added: ‘We press the formal button far too quickly and to date we haven't really considered the impact of doing that.'

The health board has worked with academics to develop a new concept of avoidable employee harm, which includes compassionate leadership and making employee investigations the last resort.

The research resulted in a 13-month intervention that resulted in a 71% reduction in investigations, saving more than 3,000 sickness days, and averting over £700,000 in costs.

In addition, the health board has engaged Healthcare People Management Association, the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development, and ACAS.

The learnings are also being used by NHS Wales, the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, Swansea Bay University Health Board, Shared Services Partnership, and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.