Hospital bosses launched ‘witch hunt’ to find whistleblower who revealed blunders in woman’s treatment, inquest told

Hospital bosses have been accused of launching a witch hunt to find a whistleblower who told a widower about blunders in the treatment his wife received.

The row emerged as an inquest began into the death of Susan Warby who died five weeks after bowel surgery. The 57-year-old died at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds after a series of complications in her treatment.

Her family received an anonymous letter after her death highlighting errors in her surgery, the inquest in Ipswich heard, and both Suffolk Police and the hospital launched investigations. These investigations confirmed that there had been issues around an arterial line fitted to Ms Warby during surgery, Suffolk’s senior coroner Nigel Parsley said.

Doctors were reportedly asked for fingerprints as part of the hospital’s investigation, with an official from trade union Unison describing the investigation as a “witch hunt” designed to identify the whistleblower who revealed the blunders.

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Source: The Independent, 17 January 2020