NHS punishment of whistleblowers ‘morally wrong’ according to government

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock will today announce new measures, which will mean that hospital bosses will be faced with stricter levels of ‘competency checks’. He also said that staff who expose failings will be given better protection and should be allowed to air their concerns without being in fear of losing their job.

The measures will be announced at the Improving Patient Safety and Care conference in London today.

Mr Hancock will say at the conference “Getting the right leadership is vital. We need more people with clinical backgrounds and more people from the outside the NHS.

“All directors must meet minimum competency standards to sit on the board of any health organisation. And where training is needed to meet those new standards, then it should be made available.

“I know that NHS leaders have some of the toughest jobs in the country. We need to support them with the skills and training they need so they can lead their organisations effectively and create the right culture for staff and patients.”

Mr Hancock also wants whistleblowers to feel secure enough to be able to speak up about safety concerns without fear of repercussion from managers.

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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