Although not presented as such the Baby Peter tragedy is actually a tale of two highly contrasting senior professionals. Both have campaigned against the loss of their jobs because they felt they had been taken from them unfairly. But this has been for very different reasons, and, so far, with very different outcomes. While one has become a household name, the other remains largely obscure. Read more >>
Probe into abuse at St Nicholas Hospital in Gosforth
A MAJOR probe is under way into allegations of abuse at a psychiatric unit for some of Britain�s most troubled teenagers.
Several members of staff, a mixture of qualified nurses and support workers, have been suspended over the claims at the Roycroft Unit at St Nicholas� Hospital in Gosforth, Newcastle.
Issues of dismissal highlighted in wake of Baby P tragedy
While both have campaigned against the loss of their jobs, the cases of Sharon Shoesmith and Kim Holt resulted in very different outcomes, says Peter Beresford
�Learning the lessons from Winterbourne View� � 22 November 2011
�Learning the lessons from Winterbourne View� is a seminar for commissioners, providers, practitioners, people with learning disabilities themselves and their families.
The recent Panorama programme about the abuse of people with learning disabilities at a private hospital (Winterbourne View) has reignited the debate about institutional care, and raised public awareness and concern about the treatment of some of our most vulnerable citizens. This seminar aims to learn the lessons from this distressing example of abuse.
Registration costs from �99-�149 plus VAT (some free bursaries are available).
The seminar is on 22 November in central London.
Click here for booking form
NHS trust faces �2m legal bill after battle with whistleblower
The unfair sacking of a popular NHS chief executive who angered bosses by refusing to close local cancer services has cost the taxpayer an estimated �2m. John Watkinson, former chief executive of Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, expressed his “relief” last night after the trust that sacked him admitted it would no longer fight the case. Read more >>
Shocking whistleblower accounts from Private Eye
Phil Hammond and Andrew Bousfield came together, in a journalistic sense, to write a Private Eye special called Shoot the Messenger to show how NHS whistleblowers are being silenced and sacked, despite political promises to protect them.
It appears in Issue 1292 and is available in reassuringly hard copy from July 5, 2011. Back orders are available by calling Private Eye Subs on 01795 414870.
Great Ormond Street hospital issues apology to Baby P whistleblower
Great Ormond Street hospital has formally apologised to a senior doctor suspended after she blew the whistle on failings at the clinic where Baby Peter was treated just days before his death.
Consultant paediatrician Kim Holt and three colleagues wrote to managers in 2006, warning that understaffing and poor record keeping posed a serious risk to patients’ safety at St Anne’s clinic in Haringey, north London.
Holt says bosses ignored her warnings and removed her from the clinic. Read more >>
Who would be a NHS whistleblower?
Undercover Nurse Margaret Haywood put a 20-year career on the line to help Panorama expose serious failings in the care of the elderly at one NHS hospital.
Undercover Nurse aired in July 2005 after Ms Haywood wore a hidden camera to film conditions on an acute care ward at Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.