3 August 2010

Rt Hon George Osborne MP

Chancellor of the Exchequer

LONDON SW1A 2HQ

Dear Mr Osborne,

Re:  Serious wastage of public money at Ealing Hospital NHS Trust

 I am enclosing the article which was published in the Independent 3 weeks ago. Further articles have now been published in the Ealing Gazette and in various other journals.

I have already paid a high price to ensure that wastage of public money is brought to an end.  My concerns have been reported to the key Directors within the Trust, which included: The Medical Director, The Clinical Director, The Finance Director, The HR Director, Assistant Director of Operations and The Chief Executive over the last 2 years. The matter had also been reported to NHS Counter fraud over a year ago. I have all written correspondences to support this.

To date no action or independent investigation has been taken within the Trust. All Directors continue to be in post, despite them being implicated in the fraud. The three consultants are also still in post. Meanwhile, I am facing my future with uncertainty by doing the job that I was employed to do as a budget holder for the department.

In October, Ealing Trust will be amalgamating with Brent and Harrow. So, the matter needs to be investigated as a matter of urgency.

I have done everything I can to bring about awareness of wastage within the Trust and have paid dearly in the process. However, all my attempts will have been futile if this matter is not taken seriously and investigated. Also, it means that in not too distant future, someone else will be facing same situation as myself, which is wholly unacceptable. The individual may not be as lucky as me in having a lawyer who has worked for free and have had barristers who have undertaken work at substantially reduced rates as they were appalled by what had happened to me.

I hope you will look into the serious situation within the Trust and if I may be of any assistance, then I would be more than happy to help.

Yours sincerely

Sharmila Chowdhury