Autumn 2003 Edition of The Whistle
|
|
NHS SuspensionsSheila Porter-WilliamsFreedom to Care has campaigned against misuse of suspensions in the NHS for many years. In previous issues of The Whistle, I have referred to two whistleblowers at my local hospital, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust who, about two years apart, highlighted the excessive post-operative death rate of a colleague and the dangerous overcrowding of wards. Each was suspended for well over a year on similar charges of alleged bullying of junior staff. Alban Barros D’Sa was reinstated shortly before his normal retirement date and Dr Raj Kumar Mattu is still suspended.
In November 2003 the National Audit Office has published a report showing that the NHS is wasting £14 million a year on prolonged and unnecessary suspensions. The report also shows that in nearly half the cases the person who was suspended was subsequently cleared.
The report includes case studies on three suspensions at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, including the two mentioned above. It refers to the misuse of suspension as a weapon to intimidate or punish whistleblowers.
Clinical governance reviews need to pay more attention to this aspect of mismanagement. |
|
Sheila
Porter-Williams |