Patients at risk without better protection for whistleblowers, says ex-NHS hospitals chief

Patient safety is at risk without better protection for NHS whistleblowers, according to a former health service chair who claims he was forced from his job after raising concerns about reviews into preventable baby deaths.

Maxwell Mclean, the former chair of the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS foundation trust, said his treatment made “an absolute mockery of the freedom to speak up” in the NHS.

“This isn’t just about me. This kind of failure to be held to account is a danger to our community,” said Mclean. “It is genuinely in the public interest that a chair is supported when they try to hold a trust’s CEO to account. Because the consequence if they don’t is a danger to patient safety.”

Mclean claims he raised a number of “alarming” issues at the trust, including significant delays investigating neonatal deaths and the neglect of a staff member who was formally reported to be at risk of suicide.

Mclean was chair of the trust for almost five years from 2019, following a 30-year career at West Yorkshire police. In 2021, he raised concerns about the length of time being taken to investigate the deaths of newborn children at the trust – he said some reviews were not concluded for 14 months, despite NHS England guidelines stating they should be done within 60 days.

This led to an independent investigation that corroborated some of his concerns. Mclean claimed that shortly after this review was completed he was forced to resign by the trust’s other board members. He is pursuing a whistleblowing claim at an employment tribunal in Leeds later this month.

“My contract was unlawfully terminated by a board that should not have met and did so in secret, so it was entirely against the constitution. And they were doing it in order to cover up very serious failings,” said Mclean, who is fundraising to help cover his legal costs.

“It has had a massive impact on my career. I have a reputation for thoroughness and fairness.”

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Source: The Guardian, 10 February 2025

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