Bullying probe at Hancock’s local trust due ‘in spring’

A long-delayed review into West Suffolk Foundation Trust board members’ alleged bullying of whistleblowers is now due to be published ‘by the spring’, senior figures familiar with the process have told HSJ.

The news comes amid calls from senior medics and a campaign group for the review — originally due for publication in April 2020 — to be published as soon as possible.

The review was set up to investigate the “handling and circumstances surrounding concerns raised in a letter that was sent in October 2018, to the relative of a patient who had died in the Suffolk hospital”.

The letter was sent to the family of Susan Warby, 57, who died at West Suffolk Hospital in August 2018 after suffering multi-organ failure and other complications. The letter’s anonymous author raised serious concerns about her treatment by the trust.

The trust launched an investigation, involving fingerprinting and handwriting experts, to find the letter’s author. The process, led by the trust’s senior management, prompted staff to report they felt harassed and bullied, and unions to label the process a “witch hunt” (See box below: Timeline of West Suffolk bullying allegations).

NHS England and Improvement is overseeing the probe, which was ordered by ministers in January 2020. The coronavirus pandemic caused publication to be pushed back until December, but no official reasons have been given for the further delay.

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Source: 9 March 2021