MP challenges Health Secretary to protect NHS whistleblowers

Cumbrian MP Tim Farron has urged the Secretary of State for Health, Steve Barclay, to introduce stronger measures to protect NHS staff who raise concerns about failings at their workplace.

Tim was speaking in a statement in Parliament about the Countess of Chester Hospital Inquiry into Lucy Letby, who was convicted of the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of six others while working as a neonatal nurse.

A lead consultant at the neonatal unit, Dr Stephen Brearey, said doctors had raised concerns about Lucy Letby at the time but they were silenced by hospital bosses.

Tim said that the events at the Countess of Chester Hospital felt “horrifically similar” to the failings in maternity services that happened at Furness General Hospital where 11 babies and a mother tragically and unnecessarily died.

Speaking in the House of Commons last night, Tim said: “My prayers remain with the families who live each day with the consequences of this unspeakable evil. Among the most chilling aspects of this tragic outrage was, as we have heard, the actions of trust leaders and managers, who ignored warnings and belittled whistleblowers. We have to ask ourselves how many lives could have been saved if people had been believed sooner.

“I have to say that this feels horrifically similar to the failings in maternity services in my own local trust of Morecambe Bay during the 2000s, when we saw several mothers and babies needlessly lose their lives.

“Since then, despite the freedom to speak up measures that have been instituted across the country, I still see whistleblowers in other departments in trusts in the north-west marginalised, bullied, unfairly treated and having their careers trashed, all because it would appear there is culture of defending the reputation of institutions rather than protecting the safety of patients.

“What confidence will the Secretary of State give to potential future whistleblowers that, when they speak out in order to save lives, they will not then be singled out?”

In response, the Health Secretary said: “Colleagues across the House know that protecting whistleblowers, including whistleblowers in the NHS, is something I have long championed.

“As I said earlier, the guidance has been strengthened, but one of the best mitigants is having much more transparency on the data, because the more transparent the data is, the more difficult it is for concerns to be ignored. There is a number of issues.

“We have strengthened the data. We have the freedom to speak up guardians. We need to look at whether, in Chester, if a freedom to speak up guardian were on the board, that would be the right approach.

“Do we need to look at whether these roles should be on the board? But significant work has already been done since these events and since Morecambe to strengthen the safeguards around speaking up and the Public Interest Disclosure Act.

“Alongside that, having organisations such as the Getting It Right First Time team looking at the neonatal data is a further important safety process to have in place.”