A group of hundreds of consultants, doctors, midwives, nurses and other healthcare professionals from across the UK have applied to be involved in the Thirlwall Inquiry.
The Inquiry is to examine events at the Countess of Chester Hospital and their implications, following the trial, and subsequent convictions, of former neonatal nurse Lucy Letby.
NHSWB (NHS Whistleblowers) – a dedicated support group for current and former health professionals – says it should be able to give evidence to the Inquiry of a culture detrimental to patient safety across the NHS.
A key feature of the Thirlwall Inquiry, which is due to start hearing evidence later this year, will be to look at how the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust handled the Letby case, and in particular its response to doctors who raised concerns about the threat she posed.
Now, NHSWB, which represents a full cross-section of NHS employees, former employees and supporters, including Justice For Doctors (JFD), NMC Watch and Doctors Association UK, who collectively have over 1600 members, say the potentially critical evidence of its members should be heard.
The group has instructed Hudgell Solicitors’ dedicated Public Inquiry team to represent them, with an application to be part of the Inquiry now made.
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Whistleblowers subject to ‘victimisation and persecution’
NHSWB includes many highly experienced health specialists who have challenged situations and raised concerns over patient safety within their own Trusts.
They say they can evidence of how whistleblowers are commonly subject to ‘victimisation and persecution’, and referred to regulators such as the General Medical Council (GMC), Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a direct consequence of raising concerns over patient and staff safety and unethical practices.
A recurring theme, the group says, is senior management at NHS Trusts placing individual and organisational reputational damage limitation ahead of patient and staff safety, and a formulaic approach taken against those whose actions are in conflict with those interests.
Many of the NHSWB group were dismissed after facing employment tribunals themselves, some resigned after their concerns were ignored, whilst some still remain working within the NHS.
‘On-going ‘cover-up culture’ in the NHS
NHSWB believes the Inquiry should examine the apparent lack of protection afforded to, and the treatment of, whistleblowers and the reasons behind it happening.
Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist Martyn Pitman, who was dismissed from his post at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital (RHCH) in Winchester after raising concerns over maternity patient and staff safety, represents the NHSWB. He said:
As a group we represent individuals from all professional disciplines from within the NHS, many of whom have suffered very significant detriment directly as a result of raising concerns, speaking up and whistleblowing, all of which are supposedly encouraged by their employing Trusts and national regulatory bodies.
We believe our members are in the opportune position to provide first-hand evidence of their experience of raising safety concerns in an NHS setting and their experience of the consequences.
They could not be better placed to understand the challenges, complexities and potentially career and tragically sometimes life-destroying risks involved when speaking truth to power within the healthcare system.
For many of the general public, the details uncovered by the tragic Lucy Letby scandal revealed for the first time what can befall whistleblowers in the NHS who, not uncommonly, place their careers, professional reputations and livelihoods in jeopardy by simply adhering to their basic professional, ethical and moral responsibilities, by raising concerns that are in the public interest.
We are confident we can demonstrate that this has, tragically, become all too commonplace in the NHS, a situation that is directly relevant to both the Thirlwall Inquiry and in the prevention of further avoidable NHS tragedies.
We believe the importance of our involvement in this Inquiry is further heightened by the announcement of grave concern reported in the national press this week by the out-going NHS Ombudsman in relation to what he describes as the ongoing ‘cover-up culture’ in the NHS and inappropriate victimisation and persecution of whistleblowers.
Dr Matt Kneale, Co-Chair of Doctors’ Association UK, added:
NHS staff who have bravely spoken up about patient safety concerns or unethical practices deserve to have their voices heard and experiences carefully examined.
By granting NHSWB core participant status, the Inquiry can ensure it has direct access to the perspectives of those on the frontlines who have witnessed troubling practices first-hand. Such evidence is vital for understanding the full scope of the problems and informing reforms to better support whistleblowers and safeguard patient care across the NHS.
Whistleblowers face disciplinary action on ‘spurious grounds’
Cathryn Watters, founder and director of NMCWatch, which represents nearly 600 nurses and midwives who have been through investigations by their regulator, said:
We are delighted to join the application by NHSWB for Core Participant status to the Thirlwall Inquiry.
Many of our group have been whistleblowers or have raised serious concerns in their workplace to find they are referred on spurious grounds, often with no basis or evidence of minor issues that could have been dealt with at employer level.
We feel that the Fitness to Practice process is being weaponised to silence whistleblowers and to punish those who have continued to escalate concerns. Health care regulators must get better skills to unpick this and assure further patient harm is not being risked in pursuit of such cases.
Consultant Cardiologist Dr Usha Prasad, of Justice For Doctors, was dismissed by Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Trust after raising patient safety concerns She said:
In our group, many highly-trained, qualified and senior consultants and doctors have lost their jobs after they raised patient safety concerns. This must be addressed as the NHS is already stretched and cannot afford to lose qualified, hard-working, honest doctors.
It is important that NHSWB is heard at the Inquiry with regards to the culture across the NHS when people speak out and raise concerns about patient safety. Following the Lucy Letby case, lessons must be learnt to prevent further such disaster.
Evidence of group ‘of huge significance’
Rachel Di Clemente, chief executive of Hudgell Solicitors, the firm instructed to represent NHSWB, said:
This group of health professionals has come forward with no agenda other than making a positive change across our health service in terms of improving patient safety.
They are requesting the opportunity to be given a platform at an inquiry of huge national importance to speak collectively as a voice of experience. They are experts in their fields who have seen things go wrong first-hand.
Since the Francis report in 2015, following the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust Public Inquiry, there has been a series of investigations into NHS Trusts around patient safety where it has been revealed NHS staff have either been too scared to speak up or punished for speaking up.
Lessons have clearly not been learned and we feel it is imperative that this group be involved in the Thirlwall Inquiry, particularly to help examine whether suspicions could have been raised earlier, whether Letby should have been suspended earlier and how the management responded to concerns raised about her.
The evidence of this group relating to how whistleblowers are treated, not just at one Trust, but across the UK, is of huge significance.
Group calling for an independent body to investigate whistleblowing cases
As well as seeking Core Participant status at the Inquiry, NHSWB is also calling for an independent body to be introduced to investigate cases, claiming the vast majority of employment tribunals involving whistleblowers find in favour of the NHS Trusts.
They are also calling for the regulation of NHS managers to be introduced – highlighting how health professionals are regulated by the General Medical Council (GMC), yet NHS management have no code of conduct to follow.