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Private Eye

May 15, 2010

Update on John Watkinson’s unfair dimissal from a source close to JW
Filed under: Private Eye — Dr. Phil @ 5:21 pm

The Independent on Sunday has got a bee in its bonnet on whistle-blowing and has run a number of stories on various individuals over recent months. They are running a piece tomorrow on JW. The reporter is Nina Lakhani, she’s done the other whistle-blowing stories and has told JW that having read his judgment it is the most clear cut finding on whistle-blowing that she has seen.

She approached Lansley for comment and got a statement saying he has ordered Nicholson to conduct an inquiry. (This is somewhat amusing when you think that Carruthers is Nicholson’s mentor – tho’ maybe Lansley is being really clever and passing the poisoned chalice to Nicholson: it’s said that Lansley wants rid of Nicholson and the culture he has engendered.)

She also approached both RCHT and the SHA with one question each. She asked the former for the real reason why JW was sacked (since the tribunal clearly didn’t believe what they had put forward during the 13 days of hearing) and asked the latter why, if RCHT was so capable of making its own decisions as the SHA continually asserts, the SHA had found it necessary to bully RCHT into suspending JW

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May 14, 2010

Lots of reaction from latest Private Eye column….
Filed under: Private Eye — Tags: , , , — Dr. Phil @ 12:44 pm

Here’s a post from Andy Cowper from Health Policy Insight (http://healthpolicyinsight.com/?q=node/502) in response to Private Eye, and responses from Dr Gabriel Scally, Regional Director of Public Health For The South West in defence of Carruthers, and a further response to that from a former NHS manager and colleague of John Watkinson. Any other responses from either side welcome. Please post below.

Editor’s blog Wednesday 12 May 2010: Employment Tribunal trashes Sir Ian Carruthers’ treatment of Royal Cornwall CE
Publish Date/Time:
05/12/2010 – 12:34

The excellent Dr Phil Hammond is well-known for his nom-de-plume as Private Eye’s MD.
His latest Eye column, reproduced here on his website, looks at the Employment Tribunal’s ruling over the suspension and subsequent dismissal of Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust chief executive John Watkinson in 2008.
The RCHT disciplinary action followed Watkinson’s protesting against the SHA’s plans involving a lack of (legally-required) consultation over changes to gastro-intestinal services in the region.
Phil has kindly hosted the written verdicton his site.

It is comprehensive in its condemnation of RCHT’s actions towards Watkinson, and pins the blame for their proceedings against him firmly on Sir Ian Carruthers and the SHA, NHS South-West.

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May 11, 2010

Dr Phil’s Private Eye Column Issue 1263, May 12, 2010
Filed under: Private Eye — Tags: , , , — Dr. Phil @ 10:07 am

Bully balls

Whatever happens to the NHS post-election, it desperately needs to be freed from its bullying culture. ‘New’ Labour talked a lot of tosh about devolution and empowerment  but controlled mercilessly from the centre and swept dissenters aside, as illustrated by the shockingly unfair dismissal of the chief executive of Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust (RCHT) John Watkinson.

Watkinson took up his post in January 2007 and proved to be a popular and effective leader until he had the temerity to challenge Sir Ian Carruthers, the chief executive of the South West Strategic Health Authority (and a former acting Chief Executive of the NHS). In 2008,  Carruthers decided to centralise upper gastrointestinal’ cancer cervices to a single site in Plymouth rather than spread them out over the three existing sites in Plymouth, Exeter and Cornwall.

The need for reconfiguration was not disputed by Watkinson – complex treatment needs a concentration of expertise and resources – but he wanted more debate about whether Plymouth was the best choice and was wary of the fact that the then health minister Ben Bradshaw had lent support to his own unit in Exeter, which would have left Cornish patients with a two-hour trip

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May 2, 2010

Dr Phil’s Private Eye Column, Issue 1263, April 28, 2010
Filed under: Private Eye — Tags: , , — Dr. Phil @ 5:49 pm

Junior Doctors under Labour

Has the care provided by junior doctors got better under Labour? Certainly the hours worked have come down, with a limit of 48 hours a week imposed by European law last August, but there’s mounting evidence that this has not been done in a way that has improved medical training or made hospitals safer for patients, especially at night. A snapshot review by the Royal College of Physicians of the care provided by 887 clinical teams found that only 6% of teams included a consultant on duty at night, and that a single junior doctor could be responsible for as many as 400 patients (average 61).

When MD started this column eighteen years ago, one of the first stories was of a junior doctor covering 360 geriatric in-outpatients at night, some of whom were very ill and sprawled over eighteen wards (14/2/1992). By this measure, the hospital at night is no safer than it was then and many would argue it is much less safe. Eighteen years ago doctors worked ludicrous hours but were part of teams, had far more help at hand, got more on the job training, followed patients through and had rooms

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April 7, 2010

Dr Phil’s Private Eye Column, Issue 1259, March 31, 2010
Filed under: Private Eye — Tags: , , , — Dr. Phil @ 5:38 pm

Whistleblowing under Labour

It’s now over a decade since the Public Interest Disclosure Act was introduced to protect whistleblowers but the bullying of and discrimination against those who raise concerns in the NHS is still rife. Consultant paediatrician Dr Kim Holt used to work in the Haringey clinic, run by Great Ormond Street Hospital, where the imminent danger to Baby Peter was not spotted. In April 2006 – a year before Baby Peter was seen –Dr Holt was removed from her post after she and three other doctors wrote to management warning of tragedy due to failings including staff shortages, dangerous over-working and poor record-keeping. When Baby P was found dead, the hospital allegedly offered Dr Holt money to remain silent about her complaints.

Dr Holt claimed the hospital managers panicked after Baby Peter’s death: ‘They said I had to withdraw my allegation or the money was off the table. They were trying to buy my silence.’ Dr Holt refused to sign a statement saying all her concerns had been addressed. ‘I was not going to be gagged. I must speak about this because it is so wrong. If our concerns had been taken seriously at the time we

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