Summary
Dr Raj Mattu, a heart specialist was dismissed by University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust in 2010, after almost a decade of alleged unfair treatment by his employers, since exposing the cases of two patients who had died in crowded bays at Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry in 2001. A tribunal has now ruled that he was sacked unfairly after raising concerns about patient safety.
Reference
Clarke, O. (2014). Sacked doctor ‘was unfairly dismissed’, tribunal rules. [Coventry & Warwick]: BBC News Coventry & Warwickshire, April 18th 2014.
Listen to the BBC Radio 4 interview:
Full Audio and Summary Text Link
Reference
NHS Trust ‘blackened’ whistleblower doctor’s name. London: BBC Radio 4 News; Today Programme, April 18th 2014.
Corrective & Comforting Theory…
The Whistleblowing Helpline has produced a guide entitled “Raising Concerns at Work: Whistleblowing Guidance for Workers and Employers in Health and Social Care”, which aims to help make whistleblowing an important tool for improving both the quality of patient safety and the support for service users.
Reference
Raising concerns at work: whistleblowing guidance for workers and employers in health and social care. [London]: Whistleblowing Helpline, April 2014.
The National Audit Office (NAO) last month released a second report on whistleblowing, which considers how organisations can establish suitable conditions to encourage people to come forward with their concerns.
Reference
Making a whistleblowing policy work. London: National Audit Office (NAO), March 2014.
Whistleblowing Film (SCIE Video)
SCIE Social Care TV has made a film available, encouraging organisations to create a safe environment in which staff feel more able to raise concerns openly as part of normal day-to-day practice.
Reference
Whistleblowing: improving organisational practice. London [Online]: Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), June 2014.
House of Commons Public Accounts Committee
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has advised that whistleblowing is a crucial source of intelligence to help government identify wrongdoing:
Reference
Whistleblower treatment is often ‘shocking’, say MPs. London: BBC News – UK, August 1st 2014.
This relates to:
Reference
House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts (2014). Whistleblowing. Ninth Report of Session 2014–15: Report, together with the formal minutes relating to the report. Ordered by the House of Commons. London: The Stationery Office Limited (House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts), July / August 2014. HC 593 [Incorporating HC 1117, Session 2013–14].
Freedom To Speak Up Review by Sir Robert Francis QC
The “Freedom To Speak Up” review into raising concerns in the NHS is underway. See also. A report containing the findings is expected by November 2014.
Reference
Freedom to speak: an independent review into creating an open and honest reporting culture in the NHS. [Online; Qualtrics: freedomtospeakup.org.uk]: Middlesex University, July / August 2014.
