NHS whistleblowers must be protected – MPs
Doctors and nurses who raise concerns about standards of care in the NHS should be protected against punishment, according to a committee of MPs.
In a report published on Wednesday, the all-party health select committee also looks at the role of the four NHS regulators, the General Medical Council (GMC), Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), Care Quality Commission and Monitor.
It warns the GMC and NMC that they have their work cut out in ensuring that staff are fit to practise.
The report says: “Committee continues to believe that the effective exercise of professional responsibility is the bedrock on which high standards of patient care are built. It also continues to believe that there is an essential public interest in ensuring that professionals are protected against punitive action when they raise concerns about professional standards at their place of work.”
Patient care
Committee chairman Stephen Dorrell adds: “The effective exercise of professional responsibility is and must remain the bedrock upon which high standards of patient care are built.”
The MPs say they welcome the GMC’s commitment to introduce a system of revalidation for all doctors by late 2012, but warn the regulator that “it must give early public notice” if it finds that it is unable to meet this deadline.
The NMC has agreed to prioritise the revalidation and fitness to practise procedures for nurses and midwives, and the committee says it wants proof of progress by the time the council next appears in front of it.
Fit for purpose?
In February, Channel 4 News examined whether the regulatory system was fit for purpose. Health and Social Care Correspondent Victoria Macdonald looked at the case of surgeon David Jackson, who was sacked by a Kent hospital trust in 2007, but had been able to avoid facing both an inquest into the death of one of his patients and a GMC fitness to practise panel.
In February, the Guardian reported that the Department of Health’s whistleblowers helpline for 1.3 million NHS staff was being extended to include another 1.7 million people working in social care – without an increase in resources.
Patients First
In December 2011, Patients First was launched. This is an organisation campaigning for the government to legislate to make the NHS more open and accountable, with support for staff who raise concerns about patient safety.
The launch was led by Dr Kim Holt, the paediatrician who blew the whistle on serious problems at Great Ormond Street Hospital’s Haringey clinic. This was the clinic where staff failed to notice Baby Peter’s injuries two days before he died.
Dr Holt was subsequently placed on special leave and was only reinstated under new hospital management after a long battle. She is a critic of the use of “gagging orders”, or compromise agreements, which prevent doctors and nurses from discussing their cases.
