Report finds ambulance whistle-blowers stifled

An independent enquiry has found that ambulance staff in the West Midlands have had their ability to speak up as whistle-blowers stifled for many years.

West Midlands Ambulance Service accepts it has learning to do, but says the report expresses confidence in the service’s ability to address the issues raised.

The whistle-blowers included a finance director, medical, operations and quality control staff.

The inquiry, led by Carole Taylor Brown, had terms of reference which included “Governance, probity, the difficulty of speaking up about these issues and the alleged behaviour of some senior leaders.”

In 2010, Roger Cooke, former medical director, made complaints about the trust’s conduct and an inquiry that year showed there had been a failure then by the remuneration committee to follow its own rules.

Dr Cooke also gave evidence to the 2022 independent investigation, which concluded there may be “systemic issues influencing the speaking up culture in the trust”.

Dr Cooke said “After my whistle-blowing, there was an assurance that issues were going to be addressed.  More than ten years on, I see a report that essentially repeats the same findings.”

The 2022 report pointed to an investigation undertaken by the National Guardian Office as being able to give further insight into the problem.  The NGO report, published in February 2023, said the culture at ambulance trusts was having a negative impact on workers’ ability to speak up, having heard from some ambulance workers that they were experiencing bullying, harassment and discrimination.

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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (jacquelinevance@chadlaw.co.uk), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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