Stourbridge News 29 December 2014 First published 05:00 Monday 29 December 2014 i
A FORMER Dudley hospital security manager who claimed he lost his job after making whistle-blowing allegations has settled his case out of court.
David Ore, an ex-police officer from Wolverhampton Street, Dudley, made claims for unfair dismissal and detriment against the Dudley Hospitals Group NHS Foundation Trust.
He told Birmingham Employment Tribunal he lost his job after making whistle-blowing allegations which were triggered after an elderly male patient was found dead at a bus stop following his discharge in the early hours from Russells Hall Hospital.
Mr Ore, former security manager for the Dudley Group, said the Trust had “put the blame on security staff” and the incident sparked whistle-blowing allegations that he went on to make about the restraining of patients.
The Trust opposed Mr Ore’s claims and suspended him at one stage. He was eventually reinstated but was later made redundant.
Paula Clark, Trust chief executive, confirmed the case has now been settled out of court at the request of Mr Ore but would not disclose the costs involved.
She said: “The agreement was taken to avoid any further costs to the tax payer.”
Ms Clark said Mr Ore’s security post was one of two affected by an “organisational restructure” and had nothing to do with his “claims to be a whistleblower”.
She added that claims security staff were being asked to illegally restrain patients had been “robustly investigated” by bodies including the Care Quality Commission and the police and said: “These independent public findings found no evidence of wrong doing in the Trust.”
She said the Trust encourages “staff to raise genuine concerns at the earliest opportunity” using its whistle-blowing policy which she said sets out a clear procedure for raising issues and ensures staff can speak up without fear of reprisals.
Mr Ore, however, said he would not advise any NHS employee to blow the whistle unless the law changes or NHS managers are made personally liable.
He added: “It has cost me personally over £40,000 to pursue my claim and brought my family and I unbelievable stress and turmoil – all for considerably less than this in compensation.
“I will never work in the NHS again I’m sure and I am still unemployed after eight months in spite of applying for many NHS jobs.”
SHARMILA CHOWDHURY 
Yet another person of integrity lost from the NHS. I totally agree with Mr Ore’s comment that “he would not advise any NHS employee to blow the whistle unless the law changes or NHS managers are made personally liable.” It will not be safe until the principles of Edna’s Law are implemented. Increased regulation promised by Jeremy Hunt will do nothing at all to improve “the culture”. Only law change will do that because there are too many people in NHS management, and at NHS Regional offices and in particular at the Department of Health who have built up many years experience of direct victimisation of whistleblowers, or of condoning such behaviour by brokering damage limitation settlements. Let’s remember too all the highly paid solicitors, the public relations, human resources and occupational health departments involved in negotiating similar settlements. Too often it is assumed that it is just one or two senior managers against a whistleblower, but the reality is very different – it is more often a large number of people being paid by public funds, to oppose whistleblowers like Mr Ore. Like so many other genuine whistleblowers before him, he seems to have been placed in a position of having to settle financially to survive.
Intense corporate bullying, backed by deep pockets brimming with public money wins the day again. The system homes in on, crushes and moves to the next target without pausing for breath, and backed by the wet, deluded, self-congratulating clowns, collecting their perks and salaries and populating the CQC.
Self-congratulating clowns? Do you mean the saintly psychophants who seem to spend their days spinning yarn or making excuses for doing nothing and their nights in demonstrating to anyone, dumb enough to fall for it, what caring human beings they really are?
Reblogged this on Wirral In It Together and commented:
It’s still not to safe to raise your head and act in the public interest ANYWHERE within the crooked, bullying NHS…
UPDATE
(Post Robert Francis Review)
It’s STILL not safe. Will it ever be?