Raj Mattu and the death of whisteblowing

If ever a case demonstrated the futility and jeopardy of blowing the whistle in the NHS, it is that of Dr Raj Mattu. Eye readers will be well aware of the protracted and inhuman victimisation of Mattu (Eyes passim) which has destroyed his health and career, and robbed the NHS of a brilliant cardiologist who was brave enough to speak up about patient harm. University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) has already wasted £6 million pursuing this vendetta, and may waste even more appealing against the employment tribunal judgement that he was unfairly dismissed and that his whistleblowing had been entirely justified. Mattu will never work as a consultant again, so the NHS has also wasted all the money it spent training him, patients have been deprived of his expertise and the compensation payment will be considerable. There has never been a proper inquiry into the alleged deaths and harm caused by the trust’s persistent cramming of five patients into four-bedded bays over a long period of time, relatives have been denied the truth and any chance of justice, and the NHS has not learned from its mistakes.

Perhaps most shocking

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Here’s Dr Raj Mattu’s first disclosure on 1/7/2000 to chief executive David Loughton about the death of his patient on 21/12/1999 which he had raised concerns about but the Walsgrave board had ignored

Mattu 1

It got no response, despite its clear implication of patient harm and ongoing risk to patients. So he wrote again, on 27/4/2001. The letter makes extremely serious allegations requiring urgent investigation

Mattu 2

Again, Mattu gets no response. However, a cursory review is carried out two years later that doesn’t interview Dr Mattu or any of the staff. It is still damning of the trust.

Mattu 3

In 1999, whistleblowing surgeon Alban Barros D’Sa was suspended from the Walsgrave for raising concerns about high death rates for colorectal cancer surgery.

In 2001, the Walsgrave (now UHWC) was found to have the highest death rates in the NHS for heart bypass surgery, more than double the national average.

In 2001, the Walsgrave   received a damning ‘zero star’ inspection report from the Commission for Health Improvement, and was particularly critical of the practice of cramming 5 patients into 4- bedded bays.

Loughton resigned in 2002, was given a plumb job as CEO in Wolverhampton and a CBE for services to the NHS. Raj Mattu

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NHS cover-ups go right to the top

‘Patients’ lives are saved when courageous people speak up – openly and honestly – and when each of us takes personal accountability for putting things right.’ So said incoming chief of NHS England Simon Stevens on April 1^st. But the joke is that no one helps put things right for whistleblowers themselves, nor holds those to account who smear, ignore or black-ball them.

It is scandalous that whistleblowing Alder Hey surgeons Professor Ed Jesudason and Shiban Ahmed cannot operate in the NHS (Eyes passim) after making protected disclosures about patient safety. Ahmed also worked for the University Hospital of North Staffordshire (UHNS) and was suspended by them in 2009 on the grounds that he is as a mental health risk after a hotly disputed allegation by two Alder Hey surgeons – Matthew Jones and Colin Baillie – that he was suicidal, an allegation of which Ahmed was cleared by a subsequent investigation. Although Baillie and Jones accepted they were behind the suicide claim, this crucial evidence was withheld from Ahmed’s Employment Tribunal, and Alder Hey denied the claim had any role in his suspension. Ahmed’s insurers withdrew funding for his tribunal challenge due

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Patients First Letter to Jeremy Hunt

The Anguished Death of Thomas Milner

Thomas Milner, a kind and gentle man, was 76 when he was diagnosed with myelodysplasia in June 2005. By October 2005 this had developed into leukaemia and he began weekly blood transfusions.  On 7th January 2006 he suffered a large gut haemorrhage and was losing blood from the rectum. He was admitted to the A & E at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital where he was given IV fluids. There was a ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ notice in his medical records.

Once rehydrated, it was confirmed that Mr Milner was dying and he was given morphine on demand by injections, when his family noticed his distress.  On January 9^th, on the Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) a morphine syringe driver was set up and he was transferred to the MacMillan Palliative Care Unit (MPCU).  This involved wheeling him 500 metres outside in the cold wearing only his pyjamas, to sit in a wheelchair for 4 hours whilst administrative forms were filled in.  Once on MCPU he needed two extra morphine doses as he was very agitated, cold and frightened. .

On 10th January, staff on the MPCU started refusing to give morphine, writing that his family were giving him

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