Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
#1
Whistleblowers are required in ....NHS,Banking sector,Government local and national,Food chain,Benefit fraud,
Financial sector,Tax avoidance and evasion,justice etc,etc,etc.....
Dorrell intervenes in Gary Walker gagging order row
Health select committee chair Stephen Dorrell has written to the health secretary raising concern about the application of a confidentiality agreement signed by Gary Walker, the former United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust chief executive.
Mr Walker yesterday said he had breached a confidentiality agreement signed in October 2011, ahead of an employment tribunal which had been due to take place, to raise concerns over patient safety.
Before the interview was aired Mr Walker was sent a letter from law firm DAC Beechcroft acting on behalf of United Lincolnshire Hospitals.
The lawyers' letter said: "Should you breach the term relating to confidentiality, you will immediately repay to the trust on demand all sums paid under this agreement in full and you agree that we may recover the compensation sum from you as a debt, together with our reasonable costs, including reasonable fees in doing so. You hereby indemnify the trust for any losses suffered as a result thereof."
The message also said the gagging order covered Mr Walker's family, and told him to withdraw any statements he made in media interviews.
Mr Dorrell wrote to health secretary Jeremy Hunt yesterday, highlighting the findings of the Francis public inquiry into Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust on the subject of confidentiality agreements.
Mr Dorrell said that, while the committee was normally reluctant to wade into individual employment disputes, "this argument is, however, different".
He wrote: "I am sure you will understand therefore, particularly in the light of the government's endorsement of the care recommendations of the Francis report about the important need for a fundamental change of culture within the NHS, that we were concerned and disappointed to hear that Mr Walker had received a lawyers' letter which he has interpreted as reinforcing the constraints upon him under the terms of the 'gagging clause' in his compromise agreement.
"The committee intends to write to Mr Walker to invite him to set out in detail the nature of the concerns which lay behind the breakdown of his relationship with the Lincolnshire Trust.
"Before doing so, however, I would be grateful if you would confirm that neither the trust nor any other NHS body will seek to enforce any clause in Mr Walker's compromise agreement which would impinge on his capacity to respond fully to the committee's request."
Mr Dorrell also pointed out that the committee had been assured by the Department of Health in December 2011 that gagging orders were "not acceptable", and "inconsistent with the Public Interest Disclosure Act."
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
#2
Of course, this Walker chap should be tarred, feathered and dragged through the streets. He signed what he was asked to sign, and we cannot have one law for this man and another for everybody else...or there could be a thorough and far reaching bar to holding anybody to these 'unreasonable' contractual arrangements.
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
#3
just shows whistleblowing doesn't realy have the protection you may think it has
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
#4
There is very little protection,,whistleblowers need to be brave,have a social conscience and be prepared to damage their
careers. People like Walker save lives ....bugger the contractual arrangements.....having signed similar contracts ,have done
so under duress......there is always a way of whistleblowing without being exposed......
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#5
stuff can be leaked to a third party, no need to make grand statements.
Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
#6
Correct Howard.......anyone wishing to whistleblow in confidence,especially on our Hospital I / third party will fire the bullets..
reg.hansell@tiscali.co.uk...........
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
#7
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
#8
Come the revolution, it's not the aristocrats whose heads should roll, it's these bloated civil servants and public sector managers who think that they are above the law.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
#9
Al;though Reg, I hear what you say on this item(hospitals) and agree with you
Maybe the general whistle blowing is for another thread? but thats a bigger issue
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Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
#10
Hunt tells NHS bosses he is against existing culture of ``legalistic and defensive``attitude to patient care.
In a letter to NHS bosses he highlights his fears of ``gagging`` whistleblowers and demands `openness and transparency`
Whistleblowing laws are to be `revamped`.......not holding breath............
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
#11
I',m afraid there will need to be a lot more protection before people will feel secure to whistleblow
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Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
#12
NHS chiefs right hand woman who threatened to sack whistleblower axed inquiry into 670 deaths.
A health chief who threatened to sack a whistleblower is now under investigation for quashing a probe into high death rates at his hospital.
Dame Barbara Hakin, who is one of the most powerful women in the NHS, has been referred to the General Medical Council for allegedly ditching an inspection at United Lincolnshire NHS trust three years ago.
As many as 670 patients are feared to have died unnecessarily at the trust since 2009.
Concerned that the hospital's 'target culture' was putting patients at risk, Gary Walker - who was then the trust's chief executive and has since turned whistleblower - told Dame Barbara in 2009 he was planning to get an external review of mortality rates.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
#13
It all comrs to light in the end
Whistleblowing is something that should be encouraged
but first protection must be in place
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Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#14
yes kieth,but thats just stateing the obvious.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
#15
glad your keeping up brian
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Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
#16
#13
" SIR - In the Nineties the medical royal colleges played a major role in inspecting hospitals. One reason they were so successful was that staff were interviewed individually, but in subsequent reports, criticisms were not attributed to individuals, so that they could not be harassed as whistleblowers.
We and other royal colleges were criticised by the then health secretary on two grounds. First, the time taken for inspections, often three or four days, with staff being away from their duties .
Secondly, the demands we made for improved services before continuing with recognition of a particular department. These were said to slow "throughput".
The Government took inspecting rights away from the royal colleges at the turn of the century. I have no doubt that the problems at Mid Staffordshire would not have occurred had they been allowed to continue with their inspections.
Professor Charles Galasko
Past chairman, Hospital Recognition Committee, Royal College of Surgeons of England
Gatley, Cheshire "
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/9876166/The-Government-must-have-known-about-the-damaging-culture-in-the-National-Health-Service.htmlIgnorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
#17
The great thing about the NHA Party is it allows NHS staff to speak up with out fear of
being destroyed as individual whistleblowers.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
#18
Maybe Reg once the NHS issue is resolved(if ever)
the whole subject of whistleblowing could be debated
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Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
#19
"Barbara Hakin has been reported to the GMC for allegedly bringing improper pressure to bear on medical staff during her spell as CEO for East Midlands Strategic Health Authority. Hakin was informed that the pursuit of A&E waiting time targets, despite the trust's full hospitals, was directly endangering patients' safety. David Nicholson was also reported to have been informed. The informant was duly sacked by the trust, allegedly for swearing. A tribunal claim for unfair dismissal was settled for a sum, accompanied by a gagging clause.
The government's attitude to protecting whistleblowers? Hakin was promoted to managing director for commissioning development at the Department of Health. This is the corporate model of healthcare, where business managers run medical care and gagging clauses abound. It is ministers who appear to have been protecting the relentless decimation of the NHS. It's this that needs to change.
Dr Nick Mann
London"
Much more erudition...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/feb/20/remove-the-gag-on-whistleblowersIgnorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
#20
Like I keep saying,,,,theres little protection for whistleblowers
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