By Malu Cursino BBC News 22 August 2023

Hospital managers should be regulated in a similar way to doctors and nurses, the senior doctor who first raised concerns about Lucy Letby has said.

Dr Stephen Brearey was the lead consultant on the neonatal unit where serial killer Letby worked and raised the alarm in October 2015.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there was “no apparent accountability” for what NHS managers do in trusts.

Letby was handed a whole life sentence on Monday at Manchester Crown Court.

She murdered seven babies and attempted to murder six others in a neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital, in Cheshire.

The first five murders in all happened between June and October 2015 and – despite months of warnings – the final two were in June 2016.

In an interview, Dr Brearey claimed senior staff at the Countess of Chester Hospital were worried about reputational damage to the organisation.

He said that instead of acting on his warnings he and his colleagues lives were made very difficult – so much so that they felt under attack. “You go to senior colleagues with a problem, and you come away confused and anxious,” Dr Brearey explained.

And he claimed his experience was not uncommon in the NHS. Dr Brearey said he had been contacted by clinicians across the UK “in the last three days” who tell him “clinicians raised concerns with senior members of the hospital and their lives were made very difficult by doing that”.

“I can’t emphasise enough how difficult a position this puts the clinician in,” he went on to say. “Carrying out your clinical practice in that environment is very difficult.”

The consultant added: “Doctors and nurses all have the regulatory bodies that we have to answer to, and quite often we’ll see senior managers who have no apparent accountability for what they do in our trusts and then move to other trusts.”

He said he worries about senior managers’ future actions, adding that “there doesn’t seem to be any system to make them accountable, and for them to justify their actions in a systematic way”.

Dr Brearey also said he did not consider himself a whistleblower, but “I was simply trying to escalate concerns that all my colleagues shared, of a spike in mortality, an association with a member of staff, the unusual nature of these events, and the unusual timing of these events.

“We had reviewed all the cases on multiple occasions with an external expert and put all those concerns on paper and I felt really I was following a process rather than speaking out.”

In a statement, an NHS spokesperson said: “It is absolutely vital that everyone working in the NHS feels they can raise concerns and that these are acted on and we have reminded NHS leaders about the importance of this following the verdict last week.”

They added that every NHS trust is expected to adopt an updated Freedom To Speak Up policy, and ensure the information is easily accessible to staff.

• Listen to Dr Brearey’s interview in full

Dr Naru Narayanan, president of the doctors’ union the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association, told Sky News there should “better protection for people who raise concerns”.

“But we see time and again that people who do so face retribution, revenge and retaliation, and they fear for their careers,” Dr Narayanan added

Link to the article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66578698

BBC NEWS 3 March 2021

NHS England has ordered an independent review into a trauma and orthopaedics unit over patient safety concerns.

The investigation into NHS University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust (UMBHT) comes after concerns were raised about operations carried out by a surgeon between 2011 and 2018.

NHS England has stepped in after calls from staff and local MPs.

The trust said it was aware of “historic concerns” and had already made improvements at the unit.

The HSJ first reported that the trust had commissioned an external review into the trauma and orthopaedics department, but that review was overseen by trust executives.

Staff and MPs, including Westmorland and Lonsdale Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron, have called for a further independent investigation into the concerns.

Those calls have led to NHS England overruling the trust, which runs Royal Lancaster Infirmary, Furness General Hospital and Westmorland General Hospital, and ordering the external review.

Mr Farron said he thinks the trust is “acting well and working hard” but for “their sakes and the safety of patients it is right that this investigation is independent and removed from the trust”.

He added “there was a need to know what “problems” UMBHT had so that all involved could “learn lessons” and that “no-one should fear” that anything was “being hidden away”.

A separate review into the trust’s urology department has already begun, with the findings expected to be published in the spring.

Medical director Dr Shahedal Bari said UMBHT was “aware of some historic concerns with our trauma and orthopaedic service”.

He said the trust had “already made a number of improvements” and were “working with NHS England to continue to monitor progress”.

The trust has previously been investigated over safety concerns after failures at Furness General Hospital led to the unnecessary deaths of 11 babies and one mother.

Hartlepool Mail Monday, 1st March 2021

Mark Payne

A whistleblower surgeon at Hartlepool’s hospital trust was racially discriminated against and suffered harm after raising patient safety concerns, a tribunal has found.

Dr Manuf Kassem, who is Iraqi, took North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust to court over a number of complaints of harassment, discrimination and less favourable treatment by a number of Indian colleagues over a six-year period.

An employment tribunal at Teesside Magistrates’ Court found he was a racially discriminated against, harassed and subjected to detriment for making a protected disclosure (whistleblowing).

The hospital trust says it must learn lessons from the case.

The tribunal said Dr Kassem had ‘seriously upset a number of colleagues’ by raising 25 patient safety issues in 2017.

Dr Kassem joined the trust in 2002 and from 2008 had been an associate specialist surgeon. After a surgeon colleague retired in 2011 Dr Kassem was asked to change part of his role.

In June 2017 he made a grievance requesting an investigation into ‘continuous bullying and harassment, prejudiced and unfair treatment’ dating from 2011 up to May 2017.

A retired consultant surgeon who gave evidence at the tribunal on Dr Kassem’s behalf said there was: “A culture within a culture – a group within a group.”

Dr Kassem named five surgeons he described as being ‘untouchable’.

At a grievance meeting in August 2017 he raised concerns about 25 patients, which was classed as a protected disclosure, whom he alleged had suffered complications, negligence, delayed treatment and avoidable deaths.

It led to Dr Kassem being removed from the emergency on-call rota and coincided with him being made the subject of a disciplinary investigation in September 2018. But none of the allegations he faced were upheld or progressed to a hearing.

The tribunal stated: “The Tribunal has found above that initiating a disciplinary investigation into the claimant’s conduct on 21 September 2018 did amount to direct race discrimination, and an aspect of that was the respondent’s failure to follow its disciplinary procedure that wherever possible there should be informal discussions before formal action is taken.

“As to the complaint of harassment, for similar reasons, the Tribunal is satisfied that this failure did amount to unwanted conduct, was related to race and did have at least the effect of violating the claimant dignity etc; particularly creating an intimidating and hostile environment for him.”

The tribunal said the majority of the colleagues whom the claimant had offended by raising the patient safety issues were Indian, and they were supported by other Indian colleagues in the trust.

A spokesperson from North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust said: “We take note of the ruling and outcome of the tribunal and will await the outcome from a scheduled hearing at a later date.

“On the extremely rare occasions when cases like this are raised involving staff in the organisation, we must learn lessons and make improvements where appropriate for the benefit of all staff in the organisation and for our patients.”

A claim by Dr Kassem of victimisation and that the trust made an unauthorised deduction from his wages was dismissed.

There will be a future remedy court hearing to decide what action to take.

Last year, nurse Linda Fairhall won a case of unfair dismissal following her sacking by the trust after raising safety concerns.

Moment whistleblower NHS worker publicly resigns claiming she had ‘no work for three weeks’ at the height of the pandemic and alleges her hospital now count flu and Covid cases as ‘the same thing’

Mail on Line By CHLOE MORGAN FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 5 November 2020

• Shelley Tasker, from Camborne, Cornwall, has resigned from Treliske hospital
• NHS worker made speech revealing what’s been going on behind closed doors 
• Claims she had no work for three weeks at height of pandemic due to no patients

A whistleblower NHS worker has publicly resigned and claimed she had ‘no work for three weeks’ at the height of the pandemic.

A viral Facebook video shows Shelley Tasker – believed to be a healthcare assistant at Treliske hospital, which is part of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust – telling members of the public what is ‘really going on’ behind closed doors in NHS hospitals.

In the clip filmed outside a church with a crowd gathering, Shelley, who is a mother and part-time photographer from Camborne, Cornwall, takes to a microphone and says: ‘As much as I’ve always loved our NHS, it’s no longer our NHS. It’s run by the corrupt government and the people running this company. 

‘We no longer have health care, we can’t see dentists. I can tell you now when I was working at the height of the pandemic I had no work for three weeks because there were no patients. We have a particular Covid ward. None of the wards were overflowing with Covid patients and they’re not now.’ 

She went on to claim that the flu and Covid cases are now recorded as ‘the same thing’ on death certificates. 

In response to cheers from the crowd, she continues: ‘I can tell you on Friday in Treliske there were three people in with Covid. No extra deaths, three – and that covers Treliske, West Cornwall and Hayle hospital. 

‘The total deaths from these three hospitals in seven months, is 76 people – that’s about ten people a month over the last seven months, and we have locked down. NHS figures show that 67 people died from Covid-19 at Treliske hospital between March and September.

Shelley starts her speech by saying: ‘Today I am publicly resigning OK? I am wearing this uniform sadly for the last time. I absolutely loved my job, those of you who have been following what’s going on, we’ve done tasks, we’ve organised protests, I’ve had a lot of flack.

‘We’re at the point now it’s all coming back to me. I’ve had an email from work last night asking me what’s going on, people are reporting me and unfortunately I can’t lie any more.

‘I did something really bad. I took a screenshot on Friday which shows the figures of how many people are in Treliske hospital with Covid and I shared it, because this should be public information.’

‘Lots of people have to start speaking out, there’s lot of doctors and nurses who have come forward. They’re all on restrictive duties, they’re all seeing solicitors etc.’ 

Even during the peak of the first wave of coronavirus in the UK, Covid-19 patients never accounted for more than 30 per cent of all hospital patients and tens of thousands of vacated beds went unused during the spring

A leaked NHS report suggests there are still fewer than average numbers of beds in use in NHS hospital, despite normal hospital care resuming and a surge in the number of people who are being treated for Covid-19

Shelley says that on Friday in Treliske there were three people in with Covid – which covers Treliske, West Cornwall and Hayle hospital

‘I’ve decided there’s no point, I have gone against the rules of the NHS and have shared confidential information that people need to see. ‘ 

Shelley goes on to allege that anyone who thinks lockdown is going to make a difference are ‘completely wrong.’

‘Our economy is going to crash, small businesses, people are going to starve,’ she says. ‘You think it’s going to be a month? We were flattening the curve back in April – and this was when the disease was supposedly dying out. The lockdown came in then.’ 

‘Why are our children allowed to go to school but we have to carry on? Because at the moment, they want us to work. But that’s not going to happen because the schools will be closed soon. 

‘So the cases in the hospital, there’s three people in Treliske hospital with Covid – that was on Friday.

She went on to claim that the flu and Covid cases are now recorded as the same thing. 

During the speech, Shelley (pictured) went on to claim that the flu and Covid cases are now combined as the same thing

Many people took to the comments section to praise Shelley for speaking out (pictured)

‘If you died with Covid within 28 days that goes on your death certificate,’ she explains. ‘You may not realise as well that the flu numbers have gone right down. Where have they gone?’

‘The PCR tests were not designed for diagnosing this disease – 94 per cent of them are false positives. We say no, to no more lockdowns.’

She continues: ‘Social distancing – there’s nothing social about it. How many people have died because of the lockdown because they’ve not had their treatments.

‘I’ve got a friend whose mum committed suicide. When is this going to end? It is doing more damage closing the country and hospitals than keeping it open. Screw the social distancing, we need to fight back.’  

And it wasn’t long before the post was flooded with comments from people praising Shelley for speaking out.   

‘Brilliant brave lady. More NHS staff need to speak the truth, this is the most important issue you will ever face. Ask yourself why are they doing this?’ wrote one, while a second penned: ‘You go girl thank you for your honesty ….pity more don’t speak out.’

Original article on Mail on line: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-8916871/Whistleblower-NHS-worker-reveals-whats-REALLY-going-NHS-hospitals.html?ito=social-twitter_dailymailUK

Sligo Champion July 25 2020

The Times 3 April 2020

  By Tommy Greene  @nwem_t

A RADIOGRAPHER and former employee of Furness General Hospital (FGH) has settled a long-running legal dispute with University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT).

Sue Allison and UHMBT announced that the two parties have come to a resolution, which involves financial compensation.

Mrs Allison, 58, brought a detriment claim against UHMBT after she says she was subject to prolonged bullying and professional blacklisting following concerns she and a colleague raised about missed cancer diagnoses at the UHMBT breast screening unit.

Like whistleblower surgeon Peter Duffy, she moved to FGH after alleging workplace retaliation at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary after blowing the whistle.

She has also revealed she was forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) as part of the dispute with UHMBT – despite former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s promise to outlaw such ‘gagging clauses’ in the NHS several years earlier.

Last year, a judge at Manchester Employment Tribunal ruled that this NDA was void and that Mrs Allison’s detriment case should be heard in court.

Mrs Allison’s detriment case was scheduled to take place in 2021 and was expected to last around fifteen days – but it will now not go ahead.

She told The Mail: “We probably would have had to sell our house in order to finance the case, had it gone all the way to Employment Tribunal.

“We’ve got some closure now, at least, and that will help us get our lives back as a family now. They had been in suspension for years, as this dispute took over everything.”

Aaron Cummins, CEO of UHMBT, said: “The trust has always accepted that Sue made a number of protected disclosures during the course of her employment and thanked her for bringing her concerns to the trust’s attention.

“It is disclosures of this type which lead to us being able to identify and explore potential issues and where an investigation proves that there may be an issue, to improve patient safety.

“The safety and care of our patients is our absolute priority. We strongly encourage staff to come forward if they think patients may be in any way at risk, so we can investigate and learn from any mistakes.”

Mrs Allison said: “My main concern when I took out my claim in 2018 was to draw this situation to the attention of the public, patients and employees.

“I felt the toxic managerial culture which I experienced was not only a huge risk to the safety of patients and staff but that public money was being squandered to cover up bad practice and to persecute and gag whistleblowers.

“I do not wish further public funds to be spent, by the trust, defending my claim in a full tribunal. I believe this is not ethical use of public money; this is money which should be spent on patient care.”

Mrs Allison said she plans to set up a consultancy platform for whistleblowers across all sectors in light of her experiences.

“I wish to continue challenging toxic management practices especially in the NHS where they pose a real risk to patient and staff health and safety; I don’t want anyone else to suffer the way I have,” she said.

“I can only continue my work in this area if I do not have to raise the large sums of money required to take my claim to the full tribunal. Asking family and complete strangers to support a further, more costly tribunal claim is something that I am not comfortable with.

“I also feel that whether I won or lost the tribunal the result would not have any great impact on whistleblower protection as very few whistleblowers actually get as far as tribunal with a detriment claim.

“The trust has offered me an opportunity to work with them to improve the culture around speaking up in the trust; this is something we will be discussing further over the coming months

View original article

View original article 

Evening Standard   RACHAEL BURFORD    11 March 2020

Seven-year fight: Dr Kevin Beatt said he lost his career to highlight dangerous practices ( Kevin Beatt/@drbeatt )

A London NHS trust has been ordered to pay a leading heart doctor more than £870,000 after he was sacked for whistleblowing about safety concerns following a patient’s death.

Dr Kevin Beatt, one of the UK’s most respected consultant cardiologists, was fired from Croydon Health Services in 2012 after reporting staff shortages, inadequate equipment and workplace bullying at the trust.

He was awarded £870,740 by a tribunal on Monday following a seven-year legal battle with his former employer.

The tribunal heard Dr Beatt’s dismissal “had a devastating effect on his career and his wellbeing”.

He told the Standard: “I was forced into a position where I lost my career for trying to highlight dangerous practices in the NHS. It has taken seven years to get to this point, which is just appalling.

“It has been a huge ordeal and I have the greatest sympathy for any whistleblower who has to go through something like this.”

Dr Beatt was considered a leader in his field after his research into alternatives to open heart surgery but was refused several roles at other hospitals after his sacking, the tribunal heard.

He was employed at the Croydon trust in 2005 and set up Croydon University Hospital’s cardiac interventional service, which “saved money and resulted in significantly improved outcomes for patients”.

However, he was dismissed after speaking out at a 2011 inquest into the death of a 63-year-old patient who suffered cardiac arrest amid complications during an operation.

Dr Beatt said he was unaware trust bosses had suspended his most senior nurse hours before the surgery and left him without a member of staff with a basic understanding of the procedure for 20 minutes.

During the inquest he described the nurse’s removal as the “most overtly reckless act” he had seen in his career.

Dr Beatt also flagged concerns with directors about inadequate equipment, bullying, nursing shortages and a failure to properly investigate serious incidents.

He was not given protected status as a whistleblower and was instead fired for what the trust claimed was “unsubstantiated and unproven allegations of an unsafe service” amounting to gross misconduct.

A 2014 employment tribunal ruled that the consultant cardiologist was unfairly dismissed and there was no evidence of wrongdoing on his part.

The trust’s appeal against the ruling was upheld in 2015, but a Court of Appeal judge overturned that decision two years later. A further hearing, which finished in January, was held to determine Dr Beatt’s compensation.

He said it was “reckless” for the trust to continue to pursue the case after the original tribunal and he was only able to fight the court battles because legal firm Linklaters agreed to work pro bono.

“My legal fees would have run up to almost a million pounds,” he said.

A spokesman for Croydon Health Services said: “This has been a very complex case that we felt necessary to pursue to protect confidence in our services and staff.

“We strive to ensure our staff feel supported to raise concerns and we continue to foster a culture of openness.

“We have also appointed a team of designated ‘Speak Up Guardians’, including a doctor, nurse, therapist and manager, allowing all of our staff to share their views.”

View original article

By ALEXANDER ROBERTSON FOR MAILONLINE

2 March 2020 

• Linda Fairhall claimed NHS nurses were under an unfair strain due to new duties 
• She said concerns were vindicated following the ‘preventable’ death of a patient
• After returning from a holiday, she was sacked over concerns at her ‘leadership’
• Employment tribunal ruled she was unfairly dismissed and NHS faces a pay out

Linda Fairhall, an NHS nurse since 1979, claimed that district nurses were put under an unfair strain due to new duties place upon them since 2013  

A nurse with a spotless 38-year record was unfairly sacked after warning that the crippling workload on NHS staff had led to a patient’s death, a tribunal has ruled.

Linda Fairhall, an NHS nurse since 1979, claimed district nurses were being put under an unfair strain due to new duties placed upon them in 2013.

She warned that asking the nurses to monitor patient prescriptions on top of their existing duties placed them under unfair strain and risked patients’ lives.

Mrs Fairhall claimed her concerns were vindicated following the ‘preventable’ death of a patient in October 2016.

She began the whistleblowing process but discovered on her return to work from leave that she had been sacked for concerns about her leadership capabilities.

However a report by the Care Quality Commission had commended Mrs Fairhall for her leadership qualities the previous year.

An employment tribunal today ruled she was unfairly dismissed after 38 years service with North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust.

A remedies hearing in July will consider how much compensation she should be paid.

From 2008, senior nurse Mrs Fairhall was employed as a clinical care co-ordinator for the Stockton region and then transferred to Hartlepool in June 2013.

Later that year she raised concerns over the then-new requirement for district nurses to monitor patients’ prescriptions.

She said it meant a sudden increase of around 1,000 extra visits a month for the service with no extra resources available.

Over the next 10 months, she reported 13 instances where she claimed the health or safety of patients and staff was being or was likely to be put at risk.

Ms Fairhall, who oversaw a team of around 50 district nurses, was concerned about their workload, employee stress and sickness, as well as risk to patients.

The death of a patient in 2016 prompted a meeting where Mrs Fairhall expressed the view that it may have been prevented if any of the 13 cases she had reported had been listened to.

From 2008, senior nurse Mrs Fairhall was employed as a clinical care co-ordinator for the Stockton region and then transferred to Hartlepool (pictured) in June 2013

 

Later the same month, she told the trust’s care group director Julie Parks that she wished to instigate the formal whistle-blowing procedure before going on annual leave.

But, on her return to work on October 31, she was told she had been suspended over allegations of potential gross misconduct relating to her leadership.

She remained suspended for 18 months and during this period she also battled her own personal tragedies, the hearing was told.

She was still recovering from breast cancer treatment, her teenage son was also unwell and eight months into the suspension, her partner died from a heart attack.

After various investigations and appeals, Mrs Fairhall was dismissed in April 2018.

The employment tribunal found the trust’s investigation into her alleged misconduct to be ‘inadequate and unreasonable in all the circumstances of the case’.

The judgment said: ‘Witnesses referred to little more than “themes” or “perceptions” by the staff, none of which contained a level of detail which would have enabled Mrs Fairhall to respond.

‘The tribunal found that no reasonable employer, in all circumstances of the case, would have conducted the investigation in this manner.’

The tribunal also criticised the trust for not giving a ‘meaningful or adequate’ explanation of why the suspension lasted 18 months.

It said it was an ‘inordinate and unreasonable length of time for an employee of the claimant’s superiority and length of service to be suspended’.

The judgment added: ‘The trust’s decision to dismiss the claimant fell outside the range of reasonable responses open to an employer in all circumstances of the case.

‘This was an employee of 38 years unblemished service who was suspended from her role in circumstances where that suspension was unjustified and unreasonable.

‘The trust has failed to establish that she committed any act of misconduct which could justify dismissal.’

Mrs Fairhall said she was ‘absolutely devastated’ by the effect it has had on her life.

She said: ‘I have been utterly humiliated, my life has been left in chaos and my professional integrity has been questioned leaving my reputation irreparably damaged.

‘I am devastated that after almost 40 years in a career I have been passionate about, and working in an organisation that I have always been proud to be part of, that I am left in this situation.

‘As a result of the impact on my physical and mental health it has been necessary to allow my professional registration to lapse and come to terms and grieve for the loss of my career.

‘I will no longer be working as a nurse due to the fear of being able to escalate concerns.

‘I would therefore deem myself as being unable to adhere to my professional code of conduct and potentially place patient care at risk.’

A spokesman for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust said: ‘We acknowledge the ruling and intend to appeal the decision.’

Thrive Law, which represented Ms Fairhall, said the impact on their client was ‘profound’.

‘She no longer is able to work and has lost her career as a nurse,’ said a spokesperson.

‘This all arose from her trying to protect patient and staff safety and reporting genuine concerns she had.’

View original article on mail on line

BBC News  7 February 2020

The death of a Chinese doctor who tried to warn about the coronavirus outbreak has sparked widespread public anger and grief in China.

Dr Li had posted a picture of himself on social media from his hospital bed

Li Wenliang died after contracting the virus while treating patients in Wuhan.

Last December he sent a message to fellow medics warning of a virus he thought looked like Sars – another deadly coronavirus.

But he was told by police to “stop making false comments” and was investigated for “spreading rumours”.

“I don’t think he was rumour-mongering. Hasn’t this turned into reality now?” his father, Li Shuying, told the BBC. “My son was wonderful.”

According to Chinese site Pear Video, Dr Li’s wife is due to give birth in June.

The virus causes severe acute respiratory infection and symptoms usually start with a fever, followed by a dry cough.

Most of those killed have been over the age of 60 or have suffered from other medical conditions, China’s health authorities say. Dr Li’s medical history is not known.

Image copyright REUTERS vigil for Li Wenliang, who died on Friday morning, was held in Hong Kong

 

The country’s anti-corruption body said it would open an investigation into “issues involving Dr Li”.

China’s leadership had already faced accusations of downplaying the severity of the virus – and initially trying to keep it secret.

The government has admitted “shortcomings and deficiencies” in its response to the virus, which has now killed 636 people and infected 31,198 in mainland China.

What has the public reaction been?

Analysts say it is hard to recall an event in recent years that has triggered as much online grief, rage and mistrust against the Chinese government.

News of Dr Li’s death became the top trending topic on Chinese social media, garnering an estimated 1.5bn views.

His death has also brought demands for action, with “Wuhan government owes Dr Li Wenliang an apology” and “We want freedom of speech” among the hashtags trending.

• The Chinese doctor who tried to warn about coronavirus
• Diary of a life in locked-down Wuhan

Both hashtags were quickly censored. When the BBC searched Weibo early on Friday, hundreds of thousands of comments had been wiped. Only a handful remain.

“This is not the death of a whistleblower. This is the death of a hero,” read one comment.

A photo circulating on Twitter reportedly sourced from messaging platform WeChat showed a message in Chinese saying “Farewell Li Wenliang” written in the snow on a riverbank.

The Guardian   5 Feb 2020 

 The health secretary, Matt Hancock, chats to Stephen Dunn (right), chief executive of West Suffolk NHS foundation trust, and the hospital’s medical director, Nick Jenkins. Photograph: Twitter @SteveDunnCEO

A whistleblower raised the alarm over patient safety at Matt Hancock’s local hospital because of concerns about the behaviour of a doctor who had been seen injecting himself with drugs, the Guardian can reveal.

The incident had already prompted internal complaints from senior staff at West Suffolk hospital, but the whistleblower decided to take matters a step further when the same doctor was later involved in a potentially botched operation.

The whistleblower then wrote to relatives of a dead patient and urged them to ask questions about the conduct of the doctor and his background.

When they did this, the hospital launched a widely criticised “witch-hunt” in an attempt to find out the identity of the leaker.

The doctor’s drug use, which the trust has never acknowledged until now, helps explain why it demanded fingerprint and handwriting samples from staff – tactics which the NHS regulator roundly condemned in a hard-hitting report last week.

Last month Hancock ordered the trust to undergo a rapid review from which he recused himself after failing to act on doctors’ concerns about bullying.

In an anonymous letter to widower Jon Warby, the whistleblower said the self-injecting doctor was later present when medical blunders were made before the death of Warby’s 57-year-old wife, Susan, in August 2018.

The letter said: “He had injected himself with drugs before, while in charge of a patient and it was all hushed up.

“You need to ask questions about this doctor and what investigations had been [made] about him before. We think there is a big cover-up.”

Consultants at the trust had already raised the alarm that the doctor’s use of injected drugs could pose a risk to patients by impairing his judgment and coordination.

But rather than address the criticism of its handling of the problem, the trust’s management launched an extraordinary hunt to identify the whistleblower.

The Care Quality Commission said the lengths to which the hospital was going to find the whistleblower were “unprecedented and concerning” as it handed out its biggest ever rating downgrade.

It said the “questionable” tactics left doctors feeling intimidated, at loggerheads with bosses who it said were too focused on who sent the letter rather than why they had done so.

One doctor at the trust told the Guardian “more than 10 people felt really concerned” about the doctor’s behaviour after he was seen injecting himself intravenously with magnesium sulphate and another drug used as painkiller. They claimed the trust failed to properly respond to the incident and offer the doctor appropriate support and time off work.

A letter from a consultant sent to the trust’s medical director, Dr Nick Jenkins, in March 2018, confirmed there was “a great deal of concern” after the self-injecting episode was logged as a patient safety incident.

The letter, one of four formal complaints on the issue, said: “Rapid IV administration of magnesium can cause arrhythmias and hypotension and it is only given in this way in monitored patients. The self-administration of this drug intravenously whilst being on call can therefore only put patient safety at risk.”

It recommended that the doctor be given a “a period of leave whilst doubts are put to rest”.

A trust investigation into the incident found the doctor had done no harm to patients. The General Medical Council was informed but recommended no disciplinary sanctions.

Dozens of staff had accessed Warby’s hospital records, but it was those who had expressed concern about the drug-taking doctor who were asked to provide fingerprint and handwriting samples, insiders claim.

A doctor said: “Staff who were asked for their fingerprints were the doctors who had raised concerns about the drug-injecting doctor. Many colleagues raised concerns about him and his patients’ safety, that were ignored.”

The Guardian can also disclose that the trust is still trying to discipline a suspected whistleblower using handwriting samples and demands for fingerprints despite being heavily criticised for the practice by CQC and publicly stating it had stopped using it.

After the Guardian first revealed the trust’s tactics, managers delivered written apologies “for the stress and upset caused” to all staff involved and said it “no intention of pursuing fingerprint requests further”.

Despite this public display of contrition, bosses have since refused to drop disciplinary action against a doctor accused of being the mole on the basis of handwriting samples and their refusal to provide fingerprints.

The trust’s chief executive, Steve Dunn, personally assured a meeting of consultants that the management would no longer be using handwriting and fingerprints to pursue the matter.

A doctor said: “There is no contrition. The trust continued to pursue an aggressive and intimidatory campaign based on biometrics culminating in accusing an entirely blameless individual.”

A spokeswoman for the trust refused to discuss the investigation directly but pointed out that it was now subject to the rapid review, being overseen by the health minister Edward Argar. She said: “In these complex cases, an independent review with maximum transparency is the right way forward, and we are in support of this approach.”

On the self-injecting doctor she said: ““The matter was investigated in line with trust policies and discussed with the GMC. The individual no longer works at the trust, but, as part of our duty of care, support was provided to ensure they were fit and well to be at work during their time here.”

The doctor’s lawyer refused to comment.

The letter to Warby prompted Suffolk’s senior coroner to refer the drug claim to the police. Suffolk police decided not to investigate after establishing that no illegal drugs were involved.

The Guardian Tue 28 Jan 2020       Denis Campbell and Matthew Weaver

The Times 18 January 2020

Charlotte Wace | Chris Smyth, Whitehall Editor

Staff at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds were asked to provide fingerprints in an attempt to find a whistleblowerJOE GIDDENS/PA

The health secretary has promised an independent review into the treatment of whistleblowers at a hospital where bosses were accused of carrying out a “witch-hunt” against their own doctors.

Staff at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds, next to Matt Hancock’s constituency, were asked to provide fingerprints and handwriting examples in an attempt to find who wrote an anonymous letter to a widower claiming that there had been failures that caused the death of his wife.

Mr Hancock said yesterday that he was a strong advocate of whistleblowers having their voices heard. “In these sorts of complex cases, an independent review, with maximum transparency, is the right way forward,” he said.

As the MP for Suffolk West, Mr Hancock has recused himself from the investigation, which will be overseen by Ed Argar, a junior health minister.

Original article 

BBC 17 Jan 2020

Jon Warby’s wife Susan died at West Suffolk Hospital on 30 August 2018

A former police officer whose wife died five weeks after bowel surgery said he was “knocked sideways completely” when he received an anonymous letter highlighting blunders in her treatment.

Susan Warby, 57, died at the West Suffolk Hospital on 30 August, 2018.

During an inquest into her death, it was heard she had been given glucose instead of saline via an arterial line.

The hospital reportedly asked doctors for fingerprints and handwriting samples to identify the whistleblower.

In a statement, the Doctors’ Association described the attempt by the hospital to find the letter writer as a “witch hunt”.

Jon Warby said he received the letter two months after his wife’s death.

He said he was “quite surprised” by the lengths the hospital reportedly went to to find its author.

The inquest in Ipswich heard both Suffolk Police and the hospital launched investigations into the letter at the request of the coroner.

The hospital said an investigation into the nature of Mrs Warby’s care was already under way by the time the letter was sent.

Suffolk’s senior coroner Nigel Parsley said Mrs Warby’s family acknowledged her death was the “progression of a naturally occurring disease” but wanted to know if “errors may have had a contributory effect”.

‘Deep-seated toxic culture’

It was heard Mrs Warby also suffered a punctured lung during an operation to replace the arterial line.

Her cause of death was recorded as multi-organ failure, with contributory causes including septicaemia, pneumonia and perforated diverticular disease, affecting the bowel.

The inquest into mother-of-two’s death was adjourned so an independent medical witness can be brought in at the family’s request.

The Doctors’ Association said it was approached by medics who said the hospital had demanded both fingerprints and samples of handwriting.

It said clinicians claimed they were told if they refused that would be evidence of guilt.

“The witch hunt for a whistleblower following the tragic death of Mrs Warby highlights a deep-seated toxic culture at West Suffolk Hospital,” it said.

The hospital said it would not comment until after the inquest had concluded.

The Sun    Daniel Hammond     17 Jan 2020

HOSPITAL bosses made doctors provide fingerprints and handwriting samples to track down a whistleblower.

The move came after an anonymous letter was sent to a man about failures in the care of his late wife.

West Suffolk Hospital bosses made doctors provide fingerprints and handwriting samples as they searched for a whistleblowerCredit: PA:Press Association

It said Susan Warby, 57, died five weeks after mistakes in bowel surgery at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds.

The hospital is alleged to have spent £968 on a hand-writing expert and more than £15,000 on a fingerprint expert.

Medics were reportedly told if they did not comply they would be assumed to be the culprit.

Both the hospital and police launched investigations into the source of the letter at the request of the coroner. An official from the union Unison described the investigation as a “witch hunt”.

Chief executive of charity Action against Medical Accidents told the Times: “Even if this was motivated by internecine struggles between staff groups, there is no excuse for this reaction.

“The way that they started asking for fingerprints from staff was abominable and  contrary to the kind of culture we want to see.”

Doctors said Health Secretary Matt Hancock “rebuffed” their concerns over their treatment.

But sources close to Mr  Hancock said he had raised the issue with the trust and the Care Quality Commission.

The hospital said a probe into Mrs Warby’s care was already under way when the letter was sent in October 2018.

Susan Warby’s husband Jon outside Suffolk Coroners’ Court in IpswichCredit: PA:Press Association

From: sharmila.chowdhury@hotmail.co.uk
To: kathymclean@nhs.net
CC: huntj@parliament.uk; edward.jones@dh.gsi.gov.uk; rupahuq@mail.com; rupahuq@ealinglabour.com
Subject: Request for urgent help
Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2015 09:45:41 +0000

Cambridgeshire Live   25 NOV 2019    By Alan Selby & Richard Brown 

Metro   Joe Roberts 30 Sep 2019 

Dr Anthony Adams was sacked after speaking out about bullying and discrimination (Picture: SWNS for Metro.co.uk)

A top doctor who spoke out against discrimination says he can’t get a job after being ‘blacklisted’ by the NHS.

Anthony Adams has been a consultant in emergency medicine for 20 years and a qualified doctor since 1988.

This makes him one of the most experienced doctors in his field at a time when NHS trusts across the country are struggling to find enough staff to treat patients.

Dr Adams had a clean record, but in 2012, he was sacked after raising concerns about bullying and discrimination at his hospital.

He said he was left with no choice but to start proceedings for an unfair dismissal, and the General Medical Council later found there was no case against him.

But he has since failed to land any permanent job, despite being on the specialist register and sole applicant in many of the roles.

He told Metro.co.uk: ‘Honestly, when I was dismissed, I was asking myself, “What did I do? What have I done?”

‘I really do not know.’

Dr Adams has been a consultant in emergency medicine for 20 years (Picture: SWNS for Metro.co.uk)

Dr Adams said it started when he raised complaints about behaviour that was beginning to affect his health.

He said: ‘I had to take time off sick and went to see the occupational health consultant to explain what had been happening.

‘Since that dismissal I have been totally unsuccessful.’ Dr Adams, from Peterborough, has had stints working as a locum consultant for months at a time, but he wanted to know why he was being repeatedly rejected.

He said: ‘I decided to do a data subject access request [DSAR] because I found that even trying to get locum agency posts, I was being “blacklisted”.

‘By that I mean my CV was being approved and forwarded on by the medical staffing department, and then it was blocked.

‘It was happening in quite a few hospitals.’

He added: ‘In all but one of my interviews I was the sole candidate for, and usually these departments find it extremely difficult to find recruits.

‘Nobody wants to go to work there, either because of geography or something else, and I just wasn’t “appointable” according to them.’

He said one of the ‘telling incidents’ was at a teaching hospital.

Dr Adams has struggled to find a permanent job despite being on the specialist register(Picture: SWNS for Metro.co.uk)

He said: ‘They really wanted to employ me.

There was a two-tier interviewing process.

One was a psychometric where you were taken in for a day and they put you through scenarios.

‘I was told I passed with colours, they absolutely loved me. ‘

And I had worked in that department before as a locum as well.

‘I was the only applicant, but on the day I was told my references again were “absolute rubbish”.’

Despite the setbacks, Dr Adams has kept his skills up to date with courses and training.

He said: ‘I’m also somebody who trains others.

Not only are patients losing out but so are nurses, doctors and paramedics.’

After another rejection, Dr Adams asked the British Medical Association to look into why he didn’t get a post at a hospital.

Dr Adams wants the ‘highly unethical practice’ of blacklisting doctors to stop (Picture: SWNS for Metro.co.uk)

In an email, a BMA adviser told Dr Adams that they had spoken with someone from the hospital trust’s HR department.

The adviser said: ‘She confirmed that you are on their ‘restricted’ list and will not be accepted for any locum shifts.

‘She did point out that usually a reason for this is set out on their system (e.g. lack of suitable qualifications etc.) but none was provided. ‘

She is aware that the decision has come from the consultants for historical reasons, as we already know.’

However, when asked whether Dr Adams had been ‘blacklisted’, a spokesperson for the trust denied any ‘restrictive list’ existed.

The spokesperson said: ‘It would be inappropriate for us to comment on an individual case due to confidentiality.

‘However, I can confirm that we do not have a restrictive list.’

Dr Adams has decided to take his case to an employment tribunal as he says it’s ‘obvious’ he’s being actively prevented from getting a consultant post ‘without justification’.

He said the strain on his family has been ‘absolutely dreadful’.

He said: ‘It has affected us all in ways I could not have imagined ‘It is a constant conversation.

There is no getting away from how badly I have been treated.

He added: ‘I have three children.

The eldest two are actually in the medical profession and one of the reasons why I want to do it is to change things for them.’

Dr Adams’ lawyer, Sheetul Sowdagur, from Bindmans LLP, slammed the ‘highly unethical practice’ of blacklisting doctors.

She said: ‘No one should be restricted or blacklisted and there should to be clear guidance in law in relation to this issue.

‘Additionally, there should at least exist a duty to inform the individual of any action taken, the reason why and the chance to challenge this.

‘In the absence of transparency discrimination, victimisation and unfairness will flourish. We will continue our fight against this highly unethical practice.’

Original article in Metro

By SOPHIE BORLAND HEALTH EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 18 September 2019 |

• Cheating GP surgeries and dentists are fleecing NHS out of £214million a year
• Report reveals they claim money for non-existent services and appointments
• The scams come as the Health Service is losing £1.3billion to fraud a year 

Cheating GP surgeries and dentists are fleecing the NHS out of £214million a year, a shocking report has revealed.

They are claiming money for non-existent services and appointments – and submitting invoices for patients who have died.

The scams come as the Health Service is losing £1.3billion to fraud a year or £3.5million a day, according to estimates from the NHS watchdog.

This is equivalent to hiring 48,000 junior doctors or 52,000 nurses – or performing 108,000 hip replacements or 650,000 cataract procedures.

Cheating GP surgeries and dentists are fleecing the NHS out of £214million a year, a shocking report has revealed

The NHS Counter Fraud Authority is particularly concerned about rackets at rogue GP practices and dentists.

It suspects they are are routinely claiming money for ‘ghost patients’ who are still on their books despite having died or moved away.

Latest figures suggest there were 3.6million more patients on GP surgery registers in 2018 than there were people living in England.

The scams are continuing despite repeated attempts by NHS officials to crack down on the problem by urging doctors to clean up their lists.

Other GP surgeries are suspected of claiming extra NHS cash for providing treatments which never happened, such as support to stop smoking or contraceptive services.

Meanwhile, some dentists have been forcing patients to come back for multiple procedures to earn extra cash which could have all taken place in one session.

Others are invoicing the NHS for more complex treatments than those actually carried out.

The NHS Counter Fraud Authority insists that these ruses are by no means widespread and the majority of doctors and dentists are honest and conscientious.

The scams come as the Health Service is losing £1.3billion to fraud a year or £3.5million a day, according to estimates from the NHS watchdog

 

But chief executive Sue Frith said: ‘Fraud against the NHS is insidious and a despicable crime. We will never stop pursuing those who see the NHS budget as a pot of money to line their own pockets.’

Figures compiled by the watchdog, published in an NHS England planning document, show that dental fraud is costing the NHS approximately £126million while GP surgery scams run up an £88million bill.

The document states that GP and dental surgeries are provided by ‘independent contractors’ and ‘high trust environments that present considerable scope for manipulation and sharp practice’.

Senior GPs or partners earn around £105,000 a year while dentists receive between £75,000 and £100,000.

John O’Connell, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘This is an absolutely scandalous waste of taxpayers’ cash. These fraudsters should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.’

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, of the Royal College of GPs, said: ‘GPs and their teams will be shocked and hurt to hear that insinuations they are complicit in somehow defrauding our National Health Service are still being propagated.’

She stressed: ‘Records can never be perfect as our patients’ circumstances change all the time. It is certainly not a case of surgeries deliberately and systematically profiting by keeping patients on their lists when they shouldn’t be there.’

Dave Cottam, of the British Dental Association, said: ‘Anything that takes resources away from patients should be condemned.

‘Sadly confusion is practically written into our contracts. There is no clarity over what the NHS offers and no two dentists would give you the same answer on how treatments are claimed.’

The document also reveals £256million a year is lost to patient fraud, £375million to buying and commissioning scams and further huge amounts to payroll and pharmacy cons.

Other GP surgeries are suspected of claiming extra NHS cash for providing treatments which never happened, such as support to stop smoking or contraceptive services.

Meanwhile, some dentists have been forcing patients to come back for multiple procedures to earn extra cash which could have all taken place in one session.

Others are invoicing the NHS for more complex treatments than those actually carried out.

The NHS Counter Fraud Authority insists that these ruses are by no means widespread and the majority of doctors and dentists are honest and conscientious.

The scams come as the Health Service is losing £1.3billion to fraud a year or £3.5million a day, according to estimates from the NHS watchdog

But chief executive Sue Frith said: ‘Fraud against the NHS is insidious and a despicable crime. We will never stop pursuing those who see the NHS budget as a pot of money to line their own pockets.’

Figures compiled by the watchdog, published in an NHS England planning document, show that dental fraud is costing the NHS approximately £126million while GP surgery scams run up an £88million bill.

The document states that GP and dental surgeries are provided by ‘independent contractors’ and ‘high trust environments that present considerable scope for manipulation and sharp practice’.

Senior GPs or partners earn around £105,000 a year while dentists receive between £75,000 and £100,000.

John O’Connell, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘This is an absolutely scandalous waste of taxpayers’ cash. These fraudsters should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.’

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, of the Royal College of GPs, said: ‘GPs and their teams will be shocked and hurt to hear that insinuations they are complicit in somehow defrauding our National Health Service are still being propagated.’

She stressed: ‘Records can never be perfect as our patients’ circumstances change all the time. It is certainly not a case of surgeries deliberately and systematically profiting by keeping patients on their lists when they shouldn’t be there.’

Dave Cottam, of the British Dental Association, said: ‘Anything that takes resources away from patients should be condemned.

‘Sadly confusion is practically written into our contracts. There is no clarity over what the NHS offers and no two dentists would give you the same answer on how treatments are claimed.’

The document also reveals £256million a year is lost to patient fraud, £375million to buying and commissioning scams and further huge amounts to payroll and pharmacy cons.

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