Dear Sharmila,
Thank you for writing to NHS England and sharing your experiences. I am very sorry that you have faced such difficulties in securing an appropriate position within the NHS. Please also accept my apologies for the delay in our reply.
As you know, Sir Robert Francis recommended that Monitor, TDA and NHS England establish an employment support scheme to help whistleblowers whose performance is sound return to work in the NHS. Although you have had some help from the TDA, your experiences have highlighted the fact that there is no systematic approach at present to assisting whistleblowers who are having difficulty in securing employment.
We have been speaking to whistleblowers, employers and regulators about the design of a support scheme and will be sharing proposals shortly, as well as consulting the new National Freedom to Speak Up Guardian when they take up their appointment.. There are a number of elements to the scheme and some complexities we need to work through but our aim is for this to become operational early in the new financial year. You ask about NHS England’s role in relation to employment support. Beyond designing and commissioning the scheme with Monitor and TDA, I expect that NHS England will seek to help place whistleblowers from primary care and NHS Improvement will take on this role for whistleblowers from NHS Trusts. This reflects our roles in relation to the wider system.
I know that Neil Churchill has been in touch with you and I understand that your situation is urgent. Neil has raised your case with both TDA and Monitor and has kept me informed. Your experiences have certainly underlined the urgency with which we need to fill the gap in the system identified by Sir Robert.
I do hope you find work soon and that your health improves.
Yours sincerely,
Customer Contact Centre Case Officer
NHS England
PO Box 16738
REDDITCH
B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 22 33
Email: patrickboyle@nhs.net
SHARMILA CHOWDHURY 