A (healthcare) Whistle-blowers Tale: A familiar plight?

• This article is from The February 2024 edition of the online publication The Whsitlebower

"Steve Turner is a retired healthcare professional, a nurse prescriber with experience in senior management in both the NHS and private sectors in the UK and overseas. Steve worked as a clinician with vulnerable adults on the margins of society. Over the past decade he become involved with a situation he was previously unaware of and a set of consequences he could never have imagined. The widespread marginalisation and victimisation of health and care staff who raise concerns about patient safety and lose their careers as a result of whistleblowing is sadly becoming a regular story.? Steve’s story has all the hallmarks of the playbook authorities often enact against those who ‘blow the whistle’? This is his story:-

I began to realise something was seriously wrong when I returned to clinical work in 2002. Having previously worked in senior management (as Head of I.T. in an NHS Trust) and management consultancy, I became concerned that my employer was putting reputation over patient safety, and if concerns were raised, they were not followed up.

I tried to raise my concerns with a senior governance figure at an early stage, only to be told in both words and body language that they didn’t want to hear anything bad. This attitude, and what I saw happening to the team and staff around me, led me to leave the NHS and become self-employed working for the NHS on projects related to medicines and prescribing.

As my concerns continued, I followed the relevant policy, and the appropriate internal routes, including speaking to the senior executive leaders. One of them agreed to arrange for me to speak to the governance figure responsible, however that avenue was blocked from me by a more senior board member. I was told again by member of the trust board that they didn’t want to ‘hear anything bad’. Eventually my experiences and increasing frustration led me to make a protected disclosure to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in 2014, in which I set out the patient safety concerns. As a result, the CQC requested that the Trust commission an external investigation of my concerns.

Since being interviewed for the investigation report in 2014 I have heard nothing further. I never saw the investigation report and was never contacted about it. This is a particular loophole in current whistleblowing legislation, in that there is no reporting back to those who raise concerns in good faith and which are in the public interest.? Whistleblowing reports can simply disappear into an abyss.? A Freedom of Information [FOI] request to the CQC produced the response that my concerns were dismissed as ‘all third hand’ (which is incorrect) and I was told that the CQC had ‘lost the report.’

It was at this point I realised I was being blacklisted. In my case the blacklisting took the form of repeatedly being given the ‘cold shoulder’.? Examples of this included being excluded from meetings; uninvited from regular meetings I was previously part of (without a reason being given); letters and emails not replied to, a Higher Education establishment being told not to engage with me, and generally being avoided by former work colleagues and people who had previously commissioned my work. .

On one occasion my company was enthusiastically awarded a contract of work one day, then the very next day a Director from the awarding company telephoned me and cancelled the order saying only that it ‘wasn’t what they wanted.’? This breach of an awarded contract was never explained to me. I did later find out that one of the Directors of the awarding organisation ?was the lead figure in the Trust ?who bullied me.? Ironically, they also held other prestigious governance roles including ones on the promotion of good governance.?

I ?was told years later that some staff from the trust I worked for were told ‘not to speak’ to me, even when it was to ask me questions about my clinical work. In addition, I was deeply upset when the Trust, who commissioned one of my projects, failed to acknowledge its success. I presented a poster at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Conference in 2015. It was highly commended by NICE. Prior to the Conference, I contacted the Trust to let them know of the success. All attempts to engage on this were ignored.

I was fortunate in being successful in delivering the above children’s medicines project, which has had a legacy – the appointment of a Paediatric Community Pharmacist. One of my ‘Protected Disclosures’ was about this project. Specifically, that I was put under pressure to alter a report which highlighted the urgent need for improvements in medicines’ safety. At the time there were people in senior positions who backed me up and the report remained unchanged. Since then, all these people have left the Trust, mostly taking ‘early retirement’.

I have examples of work published on the NICE Shared Learning pages, none of which have ever been acknowledged in any way by organisations who commissioned the work.

When I look back on the detriments I suffered over this period, I see that they were coming thick and fast. ?Another example that sticks in my mind relates to? a training package, which included competency assessments that I was commissioned to deliver for newly qualified nurses. The project started well when unexpectedly it was demanded that I conduct the competency assessments without delivering the training. I believe there was an agenda for this. I refused, and completed the project as agreed in our Terms of Reference

More recently the Trust that I believe led my blacklisting was caught up in a scandal relating to reports of governance and financial irregularities. This resulted in the Chief Executive and board members leaving their posts.? Many were the same ones who had bullied me.

Although I understand that the investigation reports on this are ’in the public domain,’ I have been unable to locate them by an open search on relevant NHS web sites, through asking colleagues who work for the trust and checking ?media sources.?

Career ‘crushed’

This shortened account gives an idea of the ongoing detriment that I suffered during the last 12 years of my career. I’ve been able to make the most of the opportunities that I had and to work on some interesting and rewarding projects. My aspirations of pursuing my nursing career and becoming a clinical specialist, or a nurse consultant were crushed by what happened to me.

Surviving in the face of wrongdoing

I’ve been determined not to become a victim and to survive and to make the most of all the opportunities I had. So, I have no regrets.

The consequences of being a whistleblower changed my life materially, physically and emotionally. Although I didn’t incur any legal costs, I’d put a conservative estimate of lost earnings due to blacklisting at around ￡180,000. ?This is ￡180,000 worth of work in my clinical specialty, which was denied to me, to employers and, more concerningly, to patients.

When I first made my protected disclosure, it triggered an episode of major depression, and this is something that I’ve had to live with ever since. I spent around ￡3,000 on private psychotherapy sessions.? These were invaluable. I was not confident in trying to obtain this on the NHS because it was important to me that I saw a therapist of my choice who worked outside the area where I lived.

I also spent ￡10,000 of my pension lump sum on establishing and running two whistleblowing conferences. As I offered free places to individuals attending these conferences, I only recouped around ￡3,000 of the original outlay. This was a conscious decision and, given the success of the events which was acknowledged by many attendees including NHS leaders, I am pleased I did this.

There was also an impact on my work colleagues. I’ve lost touch with the team that I used to work with and part of the reason for this is that I felt I needed to distance myself because I knew that they were getting into trouble for supporting me.

In terms of my relationships and personal life it was difficult. I’m grateful that I have an understanding partner. Our relationship was truly pushed to the limits.

It concerns me that I had limited options because of the current law (the Public Interest Disclosure Act, 1998). Under this current law it is almost impossible to retain the focus on the concerns that you raised and have these scrutinised effectively. Instead whistleblowing legislation ?turns reported patient safety issues into employment issues. This is why I did not resort to the law as it stands."

With thanks to The Whsitleblower for listening to me and publishing my story.

Reference: The Whistleblower (2024) ) Online publication. WWW: https://thewhistlebloweruk.wordpress.com/2024/02/01/vol-1-jan-2024-3-a-whistle-blowers-tale-a-familiar-plight/ (accessed 10.02.2025)