A Private Eye Special by Dr Phil Hammond and Andrew
Bousfield
THE NHS will always need whistleblowers.
Healthcare is complex, rapidly changing
and dangerous; staff are fallible, variably
trained and widely spaced; and demands
are huge and resources limited. No matter
how much is spent on regulation and risk
management, shit will always happen -
mistakes, incompetence, inhumane
treatment and corruption.
But the same shit doesn't need to keep on
happening. If it's picked up and acted on, many
lives and much money can be saved. If staff,
patients and carers are encouraged to speak up,
you can even stop mistakes in their tracks
before harm is done.
As this special report highlights, however,
the shocking treatment of NHS whistleblowers
persists as the body that is trusted to care for us
from cradle to grave systematically covers up
scandals, crushes dissent and kills patients
unnecessarily ...
Dr Kim Holt, Baby P and Great Ormond Street Hospital
AFTER finally issuing an apology to whistleblower Dr Kim Holt last month, Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH - a foundation trust-in-waiting) and its Teflon-coated CEO Dr Jane Collins were doubtless hoping to draw a line under Baby P. But Lynne Featherstone MP is now calling for an investigation into Collins' actions in withholding vital information - the Sibert report - from the original serious case review into the death of baby Peter Connelly. Collins says this was on legal advice and her board is backing her. ..........
Dr Hammond has the full article available on his website -
Shoot the Messenger
Pos