NHS bosses who silence whistleblowers face sack under government plans

NHS managers who silence whistleblowers or endanger patients through misconduct face being sacked and barred from working in the health service for life under radical government plans to regulate thousands of bosses for the first time.

Ministers will begin a public consultation on Tuesday seeking views on the proposals, which they say are designed to eradicate a “culture of cover-up” in the NHS. It follows a series of scandals over the last decade at trusts including Morecambe Bay, East Kent and Shrewsbury and Telford.

A statutory duty of candour making NHS managers legally accountable for responding to concerns about patient safety could also be introduced as part of the government’s plans.

Measures being considered include “statutory barring mechanisms”, similar to systems used for teachers, which could see health bosses who have been deemed to be unfit to practise appearing on a centrally held list.

Karin Smyth, a minister in the Department of Health and Social Care, said the proposals formed part of the government’s plans to end the “revolving door” that allows failing bosses to continue working in the NHS.

“To turn around our NHS we need the best and brightest managing the health service, a culture of transparency that keeps patients safe, and an end to the revolving door that allows failed managers to pick up in a new NHS organisation,” she said.

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Source: The Guardian, 24 November 2024