tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26794969650914220622024-03-13T10:35:46.242-07:00NHS Managers ExposedJulie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-3976683832001879722020-01-29T09:32:00.000-08:002020-01-29T09:32:26.115-08:00Amazing but wasted response by Baroness Harding to the tragic death of Amin Abdullah in 2016The guidance that Baroness Harding has produced in response to the grave injustices and subsequent death of Amin Abdullah, a gifted charge nurse at a London hospital, are very well researched and written. <a href="https://i.emlfiles4.com/cmpdoc/9/7/2/8/1/1/files/56794_letter-to-chairs-and-chief-executives-24-may-2019.pdf"> https://i.emlfiles4.com/cmpdoc/9/7/2/8/1/1/files/56794_letter-to-chairs-and-chief-executives-24-may-2019.pdf </a><br />
They were published last May and distributed to Care Quality Commission Chair, NHS Providers Chair, Nursing and Midwifery Council Chief Executive and NHS Employers.<br />
I’m not sure what happened to them then. I was told about the guidance by a suspended member of NHS staff whose treatment was a devastating travesty of justice and whose organisation claimed to be following the guidance. <br />
That perfectly illustrates the failing of the guidance, that it has no teeth and is being successfully sidelined. Organisations ignore it, just as we hear of yet another report of avoidable and tragic deaths of babies, causing immeasurable grief to the parents, and of the astronomical bill for legal claims and costs paid out by the NHS for mistakes being made. Where were the whistleblowers? Probably silenced.<br />
The only way the guidance will have any protection for staff is if NHS Improvement or similar organisation, is able to legally require trusts to implement the guidance and demonstrate that they are doing so. <br />
It could also be a statutory requirement for the Nursing and Midwifery Council to ensure that referrals to them have followed the processes set out by the Guidance. That would make a huge difference to the numbers of staff being falsely accused of malpractice or being referred when lesser options could be used if there are problems.<br />
It might also be possible to prevent malicious allegations and retrain or remove poorly performing managers who ignore the guidance, a matter that no one in any previous guidance has dealt with.<br />
So the excellent guidance will have been a huge waste of resources, and will achieve nothing. Amin Abdullah, who had a very strong sense of justice and who suffered so terribly, will have died in vain and his partner and his legal counsel will have laboured in vain.<br />
I publish the Guidance below before it disappears without trace as so many guidelines and reports and initiatives have done before it.<br />
Yours with no glimmer of hope<br />
Julie Fagan<br />
Additional guidance relating to the management and oversight of local investigation and disciplinary procedures<br />
1. Adhering to best practice a) The development and application of local investigation and disciplinary procedures should be informed and underpinned by the provisions of current best practice, principally that which is detailed in the Acas ‘code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures’ and other non-statutory Acas guidance; the GMC’s ‘principles of a good investigation’; and the NMC’s ‘best practice guidance on local investigations’ (when published).<br />
b) All measures should be taken to ensure that complete independence and objectivity is maintained at every stage of an investigation and disciplinary procedure, and that identified or perceived conflicts of interest are acknowledged and appropriately mitigated (this may require the sourcing of independent external advice and expertise).<br />
2. Applying a rigorous decision-making methodology<br />
a) Consistent with the application of ‘just culture’ principles, which recognise that it is not always appropriate or necessary to invoke formal management action in response to a concern or incident, a comprehensive and consistent decision-making methodology should be applied that provides for full and careful consideration of context and prevailing factors when determining next steps.<br />
b) In all decision-making that relates to the application of sanctions, the principle of plurality should be adopted, such that important decisions which have potentially serious consequences are very well informed, reviewed from multiple perspectives, and never taken by one person alone.<br />
3. Ensuring people are fully trained and competent to carry out their role<br />
Individuals should not be appointed as case managers, case investigators or panel members unless they have received related up to date training and, through such training, are able to demonstrate the aptitude and competencies (in areas such as awareness of relevant aspects of best practice and principles of natural justice, and appreciation of race and cultural considerations) required to undertake these roles.<br />
4. Assigning sufficient resources<br />
Before commencing investigation and disciplinary procedures, appointed case managers, case investigators and other individuals charged with specific responsibilities should be provided with the resources that will fully support the timely and thorough completion of these procedures. Within the overall context of ‘resourcing’, the extent to which individuals charged with such responsibilities (especially members of disciplinary panels) are truly independent should also be considered.<br />
5. Decisions relating to the implementation of suspensions/exclusions<br />
Any decision to suspend/exclude an individual should not be taken by one person alone, or by anyone who has an identified or perceived conflict of interest. Except where immediate safety or security issues prevail, any decision to suspend/exclude should be a measure of last resort that is proportionate, time bound and only applied when there is full justification for doing so. The continued suspension/exclusion of any individual should be subject to appropriate senior-level oversight and sanction.<br />
6. Safeguarding people’s health and wellbeing<br />
a) Concern for the health and welfare of people involved in investigation and disciplinary procedures should be paramount and continually assessed. Appropriate professional occupational health assessments and intervention should be made available to any person who either requests or is identified as requiring such support.<br />
b) A communication plan should be established with people who are the subject of an investigation or disciplinary procedure, with the plan forming part of the associated terms of reference. The underlying principle should be that all communication, in whatever form it takes, is timely; comprehensive; unambiguous; sensitive; and compassionate.<br />
c) Where a person who is the subject of an investigation or disciplinary procedure suffers any form of serious harm, whether physical or mental, this should be treated as a ‘never event’ which therefore is the subject of an immediate independent investigation commissioned and received by the board. Further, prompt action should be taken in response to the identified harm and its causes.<br />
7. Board-level oversight<br />
Mechanisms should be established by which comprehensive data relating to investigation and disciplinary procedures is collated, recorded, and regularly and openly reported at board level. Associated data collation and reporting should include, for example: numbers of procedures; reasons for those procedures; adherence to process; justification for any suspensions/exclusions; decision-making relating to outcomes; impact on patient care and employees; and lessons learnt.<br />
Thank you for your attention to these vital issues.<br />
Best wishes<br />
Baroness Dido Harding, Chair, NHS ImprovementJulie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com1Leicester LE8, UK52.5489211 -1.008372000000008552.394437100000005 -1.3310955000000084 52.7034051 -0.68564850000000854tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-51648036489083912982019-06-15T08:03:00.001-07:002019-06-15T08:03:26.232-07:00NMC Fitness to Practice destroys staff<br />
So often when staff are referred to the<a href="https://www.nmc.org.uk/"> Nursing and Midwifery Council</a> (NMC) Fitness to Practice (FtP) court the allegation being made is unjustified or worse still, untrue and therefore unsubstantiated.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately the FtP panels start from the premise that the allegations are true and the registrant has to prove otherwise. Of course that is completely against natural justice let alone human rights but only the powerless registrants seem to know practically of this grave injustice, when the malpractice unfolds before them at their hearing.<br />
<br />
Cathryn Watters was a very experienced oncology nurse. She left an unsatisfactory post, looked at finding her next step through agency work, didn’t find anything that met her requirements and then landed a dream job with a private company. <br />
<br />
She was about a year into working there when she received a letter from the NMC informing her that one of the dates on her certificates had been altered. The NMC were investigating the possibility that the alteration had been made in order to deceive.<br />
<br />
Shocked, Cathryn informed her employer and notified the agencies she’d applied to even though she had never progressed beyond applying. She had no idea why or how the date on the certificate had been altered but immediately ensured that records were corrected. (It remains a mystery… was it a disgruntled colleague...was the form never accurate in the first place…who knows …)<br />
<br />
Cathryn wrote this poem after the FtP found her guilty and she was ‘struck off’ the register, that very expression underlining the immensity of this outcome. She had been found guilty because she failed to admit her dishonesty, showing no insight! It takes my breath away to write that. What devastating injustice. <br />
<br />
Her poem eloquently describes the impact this verdict had on her.<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>She dedicated it to the 15 nurses who died whilst waiting for their FtP cases to be concluded, such is the impact of this lengthy and horrendous process.</b><br />
<br />
<b>THIS DAY</b><br />
<br />
This day I put my faith in you,<br />
And hoped you’d see my side.<br />
I sat there, tried to listen hard,<br />
But really only cried.<br />
<br />
This day I put my faith in you,<br />
I respected all you said.<br />
I felt I owed you everything,<br />
I believed each word I read.<br />
<br />
This day I put my faith in you,<br />
I thought you’d have my back.<br />
But as I sat and listened,<br />
I began to see the cracks.<br />
<br />
This day I put my faith in you,<br />
I should have stayed at home.<br />
Today you walked away from me,<br />
You told me I was done.<br />
<br />
This day I lost my faith in you,<br />
My PIN is yours to hold.<br />
It was never mine, but on loan to me,<br />
And now it’s yours I’m told.<br />
<br />
This day I lost my faith in you,<br />
You brandished me unfit.<br />
My years they count for nothing,<br />
I disappear… I sit.<br />
<br />
This day I lost my faith in you,<br />
As you listened to the lies.<br />
I thought you’d care for me as well,<br />
I’m not worthy in your eyes.<br />
<br />
This day I put my faith in you,<br />
But you washed your hands of me.<br />
So now I try to build my life,<br />
Scarred by NMC.<br />
<br />
This day I lost my faith in you,<br />
I have nowhere I can turn.<br />
The largest part of me is gone,<br />
There’s no lessons that you learn.<br />
<br />
This day I tried to find the strength,<br />
Not to hold my head in shame.<br />
I know I did the best I could,<br />
I was not the one to blame.<br />
<br />
This day I try to carry on,<br />
To see that I am more,<br />
Than just my PIN, my life as a nurse,<br />
My growth, my ethos and my core.<br />
<br />
This day our patients lost their chance,<br />
To have my care and skill<br />
Your panel took that chance away,<br />
One less to help the ill.<br />
<br />
One day you may a lesson learn<br />
That few of us recover<br />
Broken by your lack of care<br />
A line of souls to suffer.<br />
<br />
Dedicated to the 15 nurses who died since April 2015,<br />
before their Fitness to Practice cases concluded.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/460231920997990">NMCWatch</a> supports nurses and midwives affected by the Fitness to Practice process.<br />
If you would like to support visit: <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/nursesampmidwives-legal-support">https://www.gofundme.com/nursesampmidwives-legal-support</a><br />
<br />
<br />Julie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com2Leicester LE8, UK52.5489211 -1.008372000000008552.394437100000005 -1.3310955000000084 52.7034051 -0.68564850000000854tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-5933367676115965412019-02-11T07:54:00.000-08:002019-02-11T08:07:42.154-08:00How to protect yourself if you need to blow the whistle.An honest practitioner with a very high level of integrity, wishes to ‘come out’ about the failure of an NHS service in their area, as serious as any already in the public domain, costing lives.<br />
<br />
What does that person have to do, to ‘come out’ safely and unscathed? Is it even possible?<br />
<br />
Even writing these questions feels dangerous, such is the corrupt nature of some of our NHS management.<br />
<br />
For example, in order to prepare for his whistleblowing, a consultant had his mental health checked before he blew the whistle because he knew they would say he was mentally ill - and they did! He had the evidence to show he was in fact perfectly sane.<br />
<br />
If an activist ‘comes out’ the huge danger is that management will make false allegations and the activist will be suspended with all that follows, therefore stopping the campaign and causing the activist long term harm.<br />
<br />
Would it be possible to take a very very low profile, to be unidentifiable? Or even resign from post. And then be active.<br />
What a choice to have to make.<br />
<br />
Might there be a high profile champion, and would this champion be safe from false allegations and action against them too? Probably not judging by the high profile people who have become victims over these last years. Ironically, allowing the failings, even knowing they are in the wrong, seems to drive management forward, loudly proclaiming their innocence almost as a matter of principle, or is it all about protecting themselves?<br />
<br />
Craig Longstaff is a veteran whistleblower. He added the following very insightful safety requirements.<br />
<br />
(1) If someone wants to be "active", they need to go to the very top & garner full support from the chief executive officer, or resign & then become active.<br />
<br />
(2) NEVER blow the whistle or rock the boat from within, while you are vulnerable & dependant on them paying you - find another job, resign (stating why in the resignation letter - as per recent case law on the issue of resignation letters / dismissal claims) - & blow the whistle in writing on the exit day.<br />
<br />
(3) Ensure, before they start rocking the boat / striking the match, that the person has up-to-date appraisal / performance reviews (& get copies if they don’t have them) that are dated & signed by both the staff member AND (especially) the senior/reviewer.<br />
<br />
Hopefully this will show positive outcomes; they need to make sure it is covered & documented in their appraisals that management have no issues.<br />
<br />
When the time comes - & sadly on balance it will - where they are accused falsely, investigated & the chronology of "issues" is back-trawled (it has been known to be 4 years and longer) they can use their appraisal/s to link sudden changes to any "non-compliant" activity managers are claiming, thus creating legal causal link to bullying and harassment /victimisation.<br />
<br />
(4) Be mentally & emotionally aware of the ramifications of good actions around socio-psychopathic managers & HR staff; you can never prepare for the depths they stoop to, but you can be aware & try to counter.<br />
<br />
(5) In any investigation say as little as possible because they WILL "misinterpret" & manipulate your words to fit their intended outcome.<br />
<br />
It is for them to prove guilt, not the accused to prove their innocence, whilst countering any "evidence" presented where necessary.<br />
<br />
If possible, make written statements only (so first meeting/s, let them know nothing will be said until the very end when they've provided all their accusations & evidence - be VERY aware of trap interview tactics. Reply to their questions with more questions, rather than pliable verbal replies / statements, as much as possible.<br />
<br />
(6) Finally, keep focused & see the wood for the trees (keep situationally aware & avoid tunnel vision), & don't become a victim - I did, & I'm still recovering.<br />
<br />
There is a lot of published research to support what is being written here. Here is one such powerful recent example.<br />
<br />
<b>Dr Rachael Pope</b> has found organisational silence to be a significant aspect of NHS organisational dysfunction that is very powerful and stops those organisations from learning and changing, hence recurrent public inquiries into failed and failing NHS services that may cost patients their lives.<br />
<br />
Dr Pope’s research has identified a culture of blindness, deafness and destructive behaviours that effectively silence and destroy.<br />
<br />
Staff are afraid to speak out. Their actions won’t hit brick walls but instead effective silencing actions that can engulf and destroy them.<br />
<br />
How different it would be if the NHS was willing to listen and learn honestly in a culture of respect.<br />
<br />
See Organizational silence in the NHS: 'Hear no, see no, speak no' -<br />
<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ziSW4NxaqbCaCKDU5nFV/full">https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ziSW4NxaqbCaCKDU5nFV/full</a><br />
<br />
The practitioner alone has to make the decision, one they can live with.<br />
<br />
For myself, I would leave the organisation with all the evidence I required, get settled in my new job and then ‘blow that whistle’ but knowing that it would be a costly and lonely journey to take.<br />
<br />
Yours sadly,<br />
Julie<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Julie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com1Leicester LE8, UK52.5489211 -1.008372000000008552.394437100000005 -1.3310955000000084 52.7034051 -0.68564850000000854tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-28546141705982251492018-07-11T06:17:00.000-07:002018-07-11T06:17:34.897-07:00Disastrous monitoring by PSA protecting malfunctioning managers Is the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC<a href="https://www.nmc.org.uk/"> https://www.nmc.org.uk</a> ) Fit to practice (FtP)? But maybe more importantly, is the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA <a href="https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/home">https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/home</a> )fit to judge? Not according to their latest performance review of the NMC’s Fitness to Practice outcomes at the beginning of June this year. It makes for unbelievable absence of insight or sound judgement. Instead it is another part of the destructive and failing system.<br />
<br />
To see the document for yourself go to<br />
<a href="https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/docs/default-source/publications/performance-reviews/performance-review---nmc-2016-17.pdf?sfvrsn=bd067220_6">https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/docs/default-source/publications/performance-reviews/performance-review---nmc-2016-17.pdf?sfvrsn=bd067220_6 </a><br />
<br />
Astonishingly the report concluded that the NMC met all but one of its standards, namely that bereaved families in the Morecombe Bay inquiry had their concerns ignored, and had not been treated with respect nor kept informed of progress. <br />
<br />
But wait a minute, nor do registrants get treated with respect, nor are they kept informed of the progress of their interminable cases. All part of the wearing down process that makes it so difficult for registrants to defend themselves.<br />
<br />
Moreover and shockingly, the fact that 1170 registrants’ cases had not been concluded for over a year, that 294 registrants were still waiting after 2 years and 71 were still waiting after 3 years was ok? <br />
I quote ‘There has been a significant reduction in the number of cases over 52 weeks held by the NMC, from 1,437 last year to 1,170 this year. The numbers of cases older than 104 weeks and 156 weeks have only increased by 13 and 23 respectively, indicating that the reduction in cases over 52 weeks has not just been achieved by cases passing the threshold into the next age category (whatever that means?). The overall caseload over 52 weeks has reduced this year by 231 cases.<br />
An achievement?<br />
<br />
Can no one in the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care">Department of Health</a> see these glaring failures of judgement?<br />
<br />
There is now significant help from a closed Facebook support and information group called NMC Watch: registrant care (previously The case against the NMC) founded by Cathryn Watters. See <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/460231920997990">https://www.facebook.com/groups/460231920997990</a> if you wish to find out more. <br />
<br />
The group has powerful and substantive evidence of the harm that the NMC process causes with 60 responses to their on line survey available from the Facebook group or myself as a Word document, by emailing me <a href="mailto:enquiries@suspension-nhs.org">enquiries@suspension-nhs.org</a>.<br />
<br />
But it seems the PSA is not interested or just doesn’t have insight into the terrible harm caused. <br />
<br />
It should be known that people who have already been through a disciplinary process with their organisation, are now in a poor state of physical and mental health. Finances are probably in dire straits too, not to mention other aspects of their lives. The thought of now fighting for their registration sends their anxiety levels ever higher. <br />
<br />
Because of the complex legalities around the proceedings, registrants find it difficult to understand the process. The unions often don’t help, warning people against writing anything of significance in case they make their situation worse, whilst not understanding that the NMC views such lack of response as a lack of insight, which makes their defence even harder.<br />
<br />
There is much more in the PSA report that signifies how poor the FtP process and outcomes is. The PSA is immersed in their processes and just can’t see how the processes and legalities are failing staff most cruelly.<br />
<br />
Is the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Fit to practice? Am I wrong in claiming that the NMC is not Fit to Practice?<br />
<br />
Staff who have been through the FtP process know that it is definitely not fit to practice for many reasons. Length of time taken is an obvious one, remembering that many of these people should not have been disciplined or referred in the first place. Another reason is the way people are considered guilty unless they have good evidence to show they are not. <br />
<br />
Very often, the manager’s word is believed against the registrant’s just because they are the manager. Then there are the lost papers, papers delivered to the wrong address, a lack of any communication and updating, and problems speaking with case workers.<br />
<br />
One midwife tells how she and her team waited for 3 hours before they discovered that the NMC court had finished for the day and gone home but had forgotten to notify them. Unbelievable but symptomatic of the disregard they have for the ‘accused’.<br />
<br />
Will these injustices and the suffering caused ever end? At the present moment, with the PSA mostly blind to the failings of the NMC, sadly and realistically, I doubt it.<br />
<br />
Yours despairingly<br />
JulieJulie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com4Leicester LE8, UK52.5489211 -1.008372000000008552.3944731 -1.3310955000000084 52.7033691 -0.68564850000000854tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-59163520825069545532018-02-10T09:03:00.000-08:002018-02-10T09:03:15.665-08:00Scapegoating staff after critical incidents<b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Poor Dr Bawa-Garba struck off by her own professional body that has not a clue about working conditions in the NHS nor the implications of their action that sounded so vindictive. What did they hope to achieve by it? The fallout from their action, wasting doctors’ money going to the High Court to have the verdict of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal overturned, raised all sorts of questions about them and for practitioners too. </b><br />
<b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></b>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>Jenni Middleton, Editor of the Nursing Times <a href="http://www.nursingtimes.net/" target="_blank">(www.nursingtimes.net</a>) has commented on her article for On the pulse this week that nurse Isabel Amaro, was also convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence for her part and struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council in 2016 . </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Ironically, the trust involved, has since made changes to their systems to prevent a </b><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>re-occurrence</b></span><b style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> of such a tragedy. In other words the doctor and the nurse’s claims about many failings that day were justified. Oh the injustice of it all. </b><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b><a href="https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/health/hospital-chief-deeply-sorry-over-201014" target="_blank">https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/health/hospital-chief-deeply-sorry-over-201014 </a></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>The Secret Barrister has written a very insightful article about the doctor’s case and the safety of having lay people decide complex situations about which they know very little or nothing at all, for example, the way junior doctors are expected to cover large caseloads. <a href="https://thesecretbarrister.com/2018/01/31/some-thoughts-on-dr-bawa-garba-and-our-faith-in-the-jury-system" target="_blank"> https://thesecretbarrister.com/2018/01/31/some-thoughts-on-dr-bawa-garba-and-our-faith-in-the-jury-system </a></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>This is not far removed from nurses being in a similar situation, having to care for a high number of sick people with very few staff, often covering extra shifts as well as working long hours. Many leave their shifts in distress because they just could not physically meet the demands being made on them. How can this ever be safe for patients and staff alike? </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b><a href="http://www.suspension-nhs.org/" target="_blank">www.suspension-nhs.org </a></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>Scapegoating is alive and well according to people who contact the website www.suspension-nhs.org . What is so frustrating is that someone is seriously injured by the action taken against them – psychologically, physically, emotionally, financially. In every way you can think of, that person is harmed. Sometimes the harm is irreversible. The harm to their families is immense too. Anecdotally, relationship break up is common.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>I hate to think how Dr Bawa-Garba is feeling now or poor Nurse Omara. Maybe if their names had been double barrelled English names they might have suffered a lesser fate or even have been spared all this terrible action against them? (The doctor was initially informed by the CPS in 2012 that she would not be prosecuted at all. I don’t know about the nurse.) </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>Consider the time all this has taken, from 2011 till 2016 for the nurse to have her career ended and now for the doctor. What a toll it must have taken on these poor people and their families and friends. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>A frequent complaint against the NMC by staff who are unnecessarily or unjustly reported to them is that they suffer long periods of time before they discover their fate too. Even worse, many feel they were presumed guilty until they could prove their innocence. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>What a mess. </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>Julie </b></span></span>Julie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com0Leicester LE8, UK52.5489211 -1.008372000000008552.3944731 -1.3310955000000084 52.7033691 -0.68564850000000854tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-28888724101635816802017-11-07T10:01:00.000-08:002017-11-07T10:01:28.230-08:00Light at the end of the tunnel: re-thinking disciplinary action in the NHSAt present a manager informs HR that s/he is planning to suspend a member of staff for what they claim is gross misconduct. The HR manager presumably checks that what is being alleged, is actually gross misconduct (though there is no evidence that I know, to suggest that) and then the awful process unfolds. The worst case scenario is that the innocent victim is called to a meeting with their manager, without knowing what the meeting is about – congratulations for their hard work in very difficult circumstances maybe? <br />
<br />What follows puts them into a state of shock and the direction is now downhill all the way – vague allegations, exclusion from the work premises (with the embarrassment of being marched off in many cases), long delays, no fairness or transparency in the process and finally some punitive outcome.<br />
<br /><u>Patient care suffers</u> – one less member of staff, other staff demoralised by their colleague’s disappearance, vague rumours. <br />
<br /><b>BUT there is hope</b>. A few managers are stopping this awful waste of staff and time. Roger Kline, Research Fellow in Middlesex University Business School, has described the different approach in his seminal work, re-thinking disciplinary action in the NHS. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/See%20https://mdxminds.com/2017/09/19/rethinking-disciplinary-action-in-the-nhs" target="_blank">See https://mdxminds.com/2017/09/19/rethinking-disciplinary-action-in-the-nhs </a>. See also <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/workforce-race-equality-standard-data-report-2016.pdf">https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/workforce-race-equality-standard-data-report-2016.pdf</a> for more examples of different approaches summarised by Roger (pp 110-143).<br />
<br />At last some trusts are recognising that the disciplinary route is usually not appropriate or even necessary (though sometimes it is of course), that preliminary investigations need to be more robust and that most often, any clinical ‘never or near miss’ events have a strong element of systems failure when root cause analysis is used.<br />
<br />Using the <b>Incident Decision Tree</b> series of questions as an initial guide helps to clarify the issues and the course of action needed. <br />
<br />The new processes move away from the destructive and futile culture of blame which usually fails to achieve a single positive outcome. Looking at the possibility that there has been systems failure, using root cause analysis, any critical incidents are dealt with in a constructive manner and ‘lessons truly are learnt’ as trusts like to say, when it usually means quite the opposite under the present system.<br />
<br />These new approaches may also prevent unnecessary formal disciplinary procedures where unsubstantiated allegations have been made because of personality clashes, or worse still, bullying behaviour by inept, incompetent even possibly psychopathic managers. The damage to people’s health, relationships and career to name just a few outcomes of the destructive nature of suspension and all that follows, is immense. Employees disappear into the NHS ‘Black hole’ a place little recognised by the public till recently, thanks to the high profile whistleblowers and the reporting of the often illegal actions taken against them to silence them.<br />
<br /><u>What now needs to happen</u> is that these improvements are rolled out throughout the NHS and made mandatory, with reports to a central agent to identify where there are problems in an organisation.<br />
<br />What a hope and what a difference it would make. Thank you Roger. <br />Julie Fagan <br />Julie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com1Leicester, UK52.5489211 -1.008372000000008552.3944731 -1.3310955000000084 52.7033691 -0.68564850000000854tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-32941618690071328782017-09-20T06:04:00.000-07:002017-09-20T06:04:10.509-07:00Dysfunctional NHS managers with narcissistic or psychopathic personality disordersA contact recently sent me an article about people with narcissistic personality disorders. If you enter those words into your search engine, several articles will appear giving the same information. Most of it is copyright. It was new information to me. <br />
<br />There is some work on the difference between psychopaths and narcissists on line too. One writer says not to worry about the label, just avoid becoming a victim. That is all very well in personal relationships if you can get away from them, but very different if you have to work with them. <br />
<br />Signs of serious problems will be the number of staff who leave. Another sign is the number of staff who are being suspended, a very effective way of destroying an innocent person who dares to complain. My strong advice in those situations is to leave. If you read the stories on the <a href="http://www.suspension-nhs.org/">www.suspension-nhs.org</a> website and see what power and harm these people can do, you will understand why I write that.<br />
<br />Why do organisations fail to recognise this obvious sign and continue to support the perpetrator, unless of course the whole culture is one of bullying by the management team including the person at the helm, the chief executive?<br />
<br />If you are or have suffered at the hands of a malfunctioning manager/team leader/ work colleague, who is unbelievably bullying and manipulative the information is very relevant. The signs of these disorders are very clear by the way they behave. For example, they never apologise and never take responsibility for their actions. It will be yours or someone else’s fault. <br />
<br />They lack empathy. They really don’t care. For narcissists, the theory is that the person is deeply hurt from childhood and cannot face dealing with the hurt. For the psychopath, there is no obvious reason why they lack emotional intelligence. <br />
<br />I feel sad for these people. Treatment is not easy or obvious and if they don’t realise they have a problem, then the future looks bleak.<br />
<br /><u>I feel alarm for their victims</u> because the perpetrators are so powerful within the structures of the NHS due to the absence of accountability, the anonymity of the people working in the organisations and the perpetual culture of blame that encourages this type of behaviour. And the Department of Health has too many problems to deal with this one even if it wanted to it seems inspite of the huge costs. How will it ever change?<br />
<br />If you have any ideas please email me at enquiries@suspension-nhs.org Thank you<br />Julie <br />Julie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com9Leicestershire, UK52.772571 -1.205212599999981652.1565225 -2.4961060999999818 53.3886195 0.085680900000018267tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-91552845985936879672017-07-27T07:53:00.000-07:002017-07-27T07:53:46.178-07:00Failing trusts but what about failing leaders of failing trusts?Failing trusts but what about failing leaders of failing trusts?<br />
<br />In April this year, ITV News reported that Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust was to become the first trust in the country to re-enter a failure regime after inspectors found that patient safety and quality of care had "deteriorated".<br /><a href="http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2017-04-06/northern-lincolnshire-and-goole-nhs-trust-back-in-special-measures-after-inadequate-rating/" target="_blank">http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2017-04-06/northern-lincolnshire-and-goole-nhs-trust-back-in-special-measures-after-inadequate-rating/ </a><br />
<br />"Having seen improvements to patient care previously, we are disappointed that our latest inspection of Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust found these improvements had not been sustained and there had been an overall deterioration in quality and patient safety. We will continue to monitor the trust and will return to check on the progress it must make. NHS Improvement will be working closely with the trust to ensure full support is available to make the improvements needed."<br />– Ellen Armistead, Care Quality Commission <cite class="_Rm">www.cqc.org.uk<a href="http://www.cqc.org.uk/" target="_blank"> www.cqc.org.uk </a></cite><br />
<br />Clearly something was going very wrong there but at a public consultation held at Grimsby Town Hall, hosted by Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Trust (Nlag), aimed at updating local people on the progress Nlag is making to be removed from special measures <b>the trust chairperson</b> insisted that things were improving. <br />http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/grimsby-news/grimsby-hospital-trust-chair-launches-175112 <a href="http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/grimsby-news/grimsby-hospital-trust-chair-launches-175112" target="_blank">http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/grimsby-news/grimsby-hospital-trust-chair-launches-175112 </a><br />
<br />If that is so, then why had a senior manager felt the need to write anonymously to the local MPs stating that <br />"It is with sadness and regret that I find myself in the invidious position of having to write to you anonymously regarding the leadership and general direction of travel for the above organisation.<br />I do not feel able to identify myself and despite having held a senior position in the organisation for many years I feel the time has come for me to share my concerns.<br />Despite the CQC having recently visited us, I don’t feel that culture and general leadership have been addressed sufficiently for long term change to be made.<br />Despite our second visit to “special measures” in a short space of time it appears that the divisive Executive Team remain in situ. Since the CQC visit, things have worsened dramatically – the imposition of impossible deadlines, no clear sense of direction of travel and veiled threats do nothing to enhance patient care, and produce a sense of cohesiveness and wellbeing for staff.”<br />
<br />When I read the response of the chair, Anne Shaw, I knew there was seemingly little hope of change for that anonymous senior manager. A humble, caring, compassionate leader would apologise to the manager who had felt so powerless and thank them for taking that step, that obviously cost them dear, especially when the CQC had mentioned their concerns about the culture too. <br />
<br />However, her response underlined how dysfunctional the management team had become. The Grimsby Telegraph reported ‘in response, Ms Shaw, hit back at the author <br />Ms Shaw, said: "We need people like that to think about what they are doing. My door is always open to talk to staff. I want people with concerns to come to me first.<br />"Headlines like this make people feel anxious and upset and don't tell the whole story. It bears no relation at all to us as an organisation.<br />"This person is part of the reason the trust is in special measures. This individual is disappointing and is clearly frustrated.<br />"Any staff member who doesn't feel valued has people who they can talk to."<br />
<br />Having made that attack on the anonymous author, the newspaper report went on to say - <br />Ms Shaw also apologised on behalf of the trust for its lack of efficiency, and blamed the CQC's findings on "complex and numerous issues", as well as the "sheer number of people" seeking care, who go to hospital with complex needs.’<br />
<br />Yes, the numbers of people seeking treatment have risen alarmingly and it is a huge problem for trusts but what was the management speak all about - these "complex and numerous issues”!<br />
<br />
There you have it, a trust in great difficulty and a management that is still allowed to function, even though the CQC officials said they remained concerned about the organisation's culture, adding:<br />"There was a sense of fear amongst some staff groups regarding repercussions of raising concerns and bullying and harassment". – Care Quality Commission reported by ITV News.<br />
<br />For the sake of the anonymous whistleblower, I hope s/he hasn’t been identified and is able to leave before more damage is done to that person’s health and family life, that the writer described.<br />
<br />What hope is there for those employees while the trust continues with those managers, and how many staff will give up before then and get out, whilst patients continue to suffer?<br />
<br />
Yours despairingly<br />
Julie <br />
<br />
<br />Julie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com0Leicester LE8, UK52.5489211 -1.008372000000008552.3944731 -1.3310955000000084 52.7033691 -0.68564850000000854tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-21104668629763031012017-05-30T13:23:00.000-07:002017-05-30T13:23:36.445-07:00Action, not words, is needed but what?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Action, not
words, is needed but what?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Recently I
was able to attend the Turn up the Volume 2 conference in London, called and
arranged by Steve Turner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See </span><a href="https://www.nonexecutivedirectors.com/steve-turner-ned-9574.html"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">https://www.nonexecutivedirectors.com/steve-turner-ned-9574.html</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> for details of Steve’s career
and extensive experience. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In particular,
in 2014 he set up and continues to manage </span><a href="http://www.carerightnow.co.uk/">Care Right Now (CIC)</a><a href="http://www.carerightnow.co.uk/" target="_blank">www.carerightnow.co.uk</a> a
Social Enterprise Company delivering healthcare service development, based on
education and learning<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yes, he was a whistleblower
with the usual destructive outcomes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Grim but after recovery from the harm, Steve is very much back in action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inspirational.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Steve had
lined up an eminent group of people to describe what they are doing to try and
change the culture in the NHS so that it is safe for whistleblowers to
speak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Better still of course would be
no further need for whistleblowing, with listening and responding trust boards,
as some are now starting to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can
dream that one day it will be all trusts. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(See the website </span><a href="http://www.carerightnow.co.uk/" target="_blank">Care Right Now (CIC)</a>
for details of the speakers at Turn Up the Volume 2.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">There were
frequent opportunities for the audience to contribute their thoughts. Many of
the audience were whistle blowers so well placed to speak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">When the </span><a href="http://www.suspension-nhs.org/"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">www.suspension-nhs.org</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> website was set up in June 2003 it attracted a
small group of people who had fallen foul of their organisations, had
experienced the horror of suspension, the worst thing that had ever happened to
them, one of them concluded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
people joined me in helping people in similar situations and we all began to
campaign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some have continued but I
stopped to care for my husband.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was
set free from Parkinson’s disease last year and I am free to return to the
campaigning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am also in the process of
updating the </span><a href="http://www.suspension-nhs.org/"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">www.suspension-nhs.org</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> website.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I went to
the conference to get some ideas of what is happening nationally and what CAUSE
(Campaign Against Unnecessary Suspensions and Exclusions UK) can do to try and
stop the injustice and inhumanity of unfair suspensions and all it entails. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">En route I
read the document published in 2014 by the whistleblowing helpline called
‘Raising concerns at work’. (See <a href="http://www.wbhelpline.org.uk/">www.wbhelpline.org.uk</a>
to read or download a copy.) The Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt,
wrote in the Foreword, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">‘Staff should be supported and
protected when they raise concerns, as well as praised for their courage and
thanked by management as a key part of the effort to build a safe, effective
and compassionate culture that patients, service users, the public and the overwhelming
majority of staff across health and social services expect.’</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">A loud amen
to that but it is not happening everywhere and the usual horror story follows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More action is desperately needed. Contact <a href="mailto:enquiries@suspension-nhs.org">enquiries@suspension-nhs.org</a>
with your suggestions for what can be done please.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Here is to justice
and truth and patient focused honest care.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Julie</span></div>
Julie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com0 Kibworth, Leicestershire, UK52.536429899999987 -1.00620849999995752.526771399999987 -1.026378499999957 52.546088399999988 -0.986038499999957tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-3783686270111779802016-01-12T03:37:00.001-08:002016-01-12T03:37:22.427-08:00So what are whistleblowers up against?Poetry makes the point<br />
<br />One of my great sadnesses is that staff in the NHS and elsewhere fail to understand the immense suffering caused by wrongful suspension, whether it be for a mistake, whistleblowing or false allegations from a jealous colleague. <br />
<br />Becoming mentally ill is the norm, since people are unable to think clearly or sleep, and appetite disappears - all ingredients for physical and mental illness. The body just can’t take the strain especially as the victim is usually a person of integrity with high personal standards and a great love for their job.<br />
<br /> I wrote an article for the Health Service Journal some years ago and the HSJ commissioned a cartoon. The artist showed a huge liner leaving a distressed NHS employee stranded on a tiny island while it sailed into the sunset. Brilliant. It probably helped with my dismissal, a small but painful price to pay?<br />
<br />More recently, a sufferer of injustice has been putting pen to paper and conveying something of the powerlessness of the victim and the unaccountability of the well paid perpetrators. Read on….<br /><b><br />Whistle and they’ll come for you…</b><br />
<b> </b><br />I’m the last of the radical nurses<br />I’ve got Bevan tattooed on my bum<br />and I believe that the sickest of patients<br />get the least care and that’s wrong.<br />
<br />I don’t like this tick-box culture<br />nor doing the care on the cheap<br />and I don’t think the family silver<br />should go to a great private heap<br />
<br />I think that the management tiers<br />pay themselves what I consider excess<br />as they preside over a system that’s failing<br />and ensure staff are blamed in the press.<br />
<br />I’ve watched all my NHS heroes<br />Graham Pink, David Drew….Rita Pal<br />speak out for what they believe in <br />to get thoroughly trounced<br />and I howl!<br />
<br />I’ve gone up the management ladder<br />to raise my concerns time by time…<br />So these poems are my very last option<br />to whistle blow here in bold rhyme.<br /><br /><b>Written warning</b><br />
<b> </b><br />A word of wisdom in your ear…<br />‘You care too much!’ they said<br />Our job is ticking boxes<br />We are audit culture lead.<br />
<br />So take your fine ideas<br />You can protest in your head<br />Our job is ticking boxes<br />Initiative is dead.<br /><br /><b>Part of the union</b><br />
<b> </b><br />When we asked for some support from the union,<br />we were bowled over when we were told<br />You must do as your managers tell you<br />And you’ll keep a job ‘til you’re old.<br />
<br />If they don’t want you to talk to the doctors<br />or log on their computers… OK.<br />It’s only about vulnerable patients<br />So not the management plan to this day.<br />
<br />and finally with thanks to the author who for obvious reasons has to remain anonymous….<br />
<b><br />Speaking up</b><br />
<b> </b><br />If you are a doctor<br />they damn your career to hell.<br />And if you are a nurse <br />they discipline you if you tell.<br />
<br />But if you’re at the very bottom<br />the kicks and cuts are tough<br />from your erstwhile colleagues<br />when you are beaten up.<br />
<br />The suits who take the salaries<br />they really don’t want to know<br />as their next promotion<br />is where they are keen to go.<br />
<br />So don’t speak up for the patients<br />The vulnerable and the old<br />‘Cos when you work in healthcare<br />You should just do as you’re told.<br />
<br />
<b>Again my sincere thanks to the author </b>of these verses. They capture so much, so well. I hope they get a wide readership.<br />
<br />And judging by the steady numbers of staff still contacting the <a href="http://www.suspension-nhs.org/">www.suspension-nhs.org</a> team, nothing has changed. Dire for us all, in every capacity.<br />
<br />Julie<br />Julie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com1Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16 7BT, UK52.4837918 -0.92691749999994552.4825833 -0.929438999999945 52.485000299999996 -0.924395999999945tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-33917727622037771332015-10-16T04:43:00.000-07:002017-07-27T07:56:41.737-07:00Can people recover from suspension and other workplace bullying?Is there any help anywhere? Read on……<br />
<br />
‘Tim Field, who died in 2006 aged 53 from cancer, was a world authority on bullying and psychiatric injury, and author of the best-selling Bully in Sight (1997). His vision was for a bully-free world, and he campaigned in schools, further and higher education, and the workplace to achieve this.<br />
<br />
In 1994, after nearly 20 years working in computing, he had himself been a victim of workplace bullying and suffered a breakdown. After recovering, he became passionate about understanding and dealing with the problem.<br />
<br />
He set up the UK National Workplace Bullying Advice Line in 1996, and then an information website, Success Unlimited (later Bully Online), which was widely used. He formed a publishing house from which he released Bully in Sight. One review said: "Thank you for writing Bully in Sight. It's like a torch in the darkness." Tens of thousands of copies were sold in 30 countries. In 1998 Field published David Kinchin's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: the Invisible Injury. Then, in 2001 he co-authored and published (with Neil Marr), Bullycide: Death at Playtime, an exposé of child suicide caused by bullying.<br />
<br />
He lectured all over the world. His clients included individuals as well as institutions such as the BBC, trade unions, police forces and local authorities. He worked personally on more than 5,000 bullying cases, highlighting the lack of understanding for victims. He revealed patterns showing how trade unions often failed to deal effectively with the problem among their members.<br />
<br />
Field believed that bullying was the single most important social issue of today, and that its study provided an opportunity to understand the behaviours which underlie almost all conflict and violence. His work inspired and influenced international anti-bullying organisations, while his personal energy, commitment and knowledge restored sanity and saved lives.’ (Written by Will Messenger <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/jan/21/guardianobituaries.mainsection%20)">http://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/jan/21/guardianobituaries.mainsection )</a><br />
<br />
<b>This year’s Memorial lecture is on Saturday, 7th November 2015 ‘Surviving Bullying at Work ‘<br />to be presented by Dr Keith Munday. </b><br />
<br />
It will draw on the findings of recently undertaken research which explores the experiences of those who have been bullied by their co-workers. Some of the factors which facilitate post-traumatic growth will also be considered. <br />
<br />
Proceedings will start at 1.15pm, in the Sumpner Lecture Theatre, Floor 6, Main Building, Aston University, Birmingham, B4 7ET, UNITED KINGDOM<br />
<br />
(15 minutes walk from New Street Station).<br />
<br />
Email: annualtimfieldmemoriallecture@gmail.com<br />
<br />
Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/AnnualTimFieldMemorialLecture">www.facebook.com/AnnualTimFieldMemorialLecture</a><br />
<br />
Hope you can make it.<br />
<br />
With very best wishes for your own recovery journey<br />
JulieJulie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com21Market Harborough, Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16 7BT, UK52.4837918 -0.92691749999994552.4825833 -0.929438999999945 52.485000299999996 -0.924395999999945tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-71425081979643563322015-03-24T03:59:00.000-07:002015-03-24T03:59:05.346-07:00Robert Francis report – sack malfunctioning managersThe Robert Francis report published recently said nothing new for all of us who are whistleblowers or who have fallen foul of NHS managers by being outspoken. <br />
<br />Nor does it give any hope to the many family members campaigning for the truth to be revealed after poor treatment and even the deaths of their loved ones – in many cases, campaigning for years. <br />
<br />The Week publication <a href="http://www.theweek.co.uk/">(www.theweek.co.uk)</a> provides a summary of all the week’s news, giving multiple comments and opinions from the daily newspapers. It was interesting to read what were some of the national newspapers’ journalists’ conclusions, journalists who are considered to be articulate, intelligent people.<br />
<br />One journalist reminded her readers of the terrible harm done to staff raising concerns about practices and conditions that subsequently cost patients’ lives.<br />
<br />These cruel actions taken against staff are depressing, distressing and of course disastrous for the patients, who are the defenseless recipients of poor care and management.<br />
<br />Sir Robert’s 20 recommendations are described as rather timid by one reporter who suggests that <u>sacking bad managers would send a stronger message.</u> Here here! Accountability for these unlawful actions is the word that springs to my mind. (These managers usually ignore employment law practices designed to protect staff - and employers.)<br />
<br />The final comment reported by Andrew Smith in the Guardian <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/">(www.theguardian.com )</a> describes the <u>number, style and reward for managers</u> as causing them to be distanced psychologically from the workforce, acting defensively when challenged or scrutinised. He suggested <u>they are running the organisations for their own benefit. </u><br />
<br />Absolutely! But what is to be done about them when the managers protect one another and tell horrendous lies to cover up, with the help of solicitors who fight their corner?<br />
<br />Taxpayers, wake up! <br />
<br />Julie<br />Julie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com0LE16, United Kingdom52.5074181 -0.8582561000000623652.3527241 -1.1809796000000623 52.6621121 -0.53553260000006242tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-38283780228728006822015-01-23T05:22:00.000-08:002015-01-23T05:22:05.558-08:00Whistleblowing and psychological safety‘<a href="http://www.thepsychologist.org.uk/">The Psychologist’ </a>is the journal for the British Psychological Society (BPS). Its strapline is ‘promoting excellence in psychology’. In its September 2014 issue, in the Letters page, Dr Joanna Wilde, Chair of the BPS Working Party on Work and Health, wrote to say that her group were ‘researching whistleblowing and psychological safety in light of the recently reported catastrophic failures in organisations’.<br />
<br />What is already known, she wrote, is that although they haven’t researched the healthcare sector, research in other similar sectors is that whistleblowing results in very negative consequences with 75% of respondents reporting a move to dismiss them. Nearly all reported experiencing being bullied after raising a concern.<br />
<br />That is so often a precursor to suspension for many of the people who contact <a href="http://www.suspension-nhs.org/">www.suspension-nhs.org . </a><br />
<br />There is a substantial body of research into group processes Dr Wilde wrote, so that whistleblowing can be <u>conceptualised as a ‘form of psychological martyrdom or suicide.</u> For those who do not speak, it is experienced as <u>a form of treachery,</u> which has always been the last crime to have the death penalty removed’.<br />
<br />That is a brilliant description of the effect of whistleblowing for the whistleblower, who may well not even think of themselves as such but who feel they cannot continue to remain silent in the face of what is happening to their patients. <br />
<br />Dr Wilde identifies predictors of low psychological safety including deficiencies in leadership behaviours and evidence of tolerance for bullying.<br />
<br />Again this strikes a chord and hopefully the research of the Working Party will provide further evidence to show that <u>work needs to start at the other end of the process ie with the behaviours and accountability of managers,</u> rather than threatening staff if they fail to raise concerns.<br />
<br />Thank you Dr Wilde. We wish you every success. <br />
<br />If you wish to contribute to Dr Wilde’s research, her email address is bpswhchair@gmail.com<br />
<br />She is also a member of the Founders’ Network, <br /><i>‘a group of representatives from diverse professional and occupational organisations formed to create change within the NHS in order for staff to be able to better care for patients. We were founded in July 2014 on the initiative of Clare Gerarda, Lambeth GP, Medical Director NHS Practitioner Health Programme, and Rex Haigh Medical Psychotherapist and IGA (Institute of Group Analysis) Board Member.<br />We recognise that there are serious problems with working life in the NHS and are creating a destructive and sometimes toxic environment that threatens the success of the NHS. The absence of an empathic environment destroys the confidence, creativity and health of staff. The NHS needs to create a fit-for-purpose environment in which it is possible to consistently plan, commission and deliver health care. </i> <i> Taken from <a href="http://www.foundersnetwork.uk/">www.foundersnetwork.uk </a></i><br />
<br />Maybe, along with Patients First <a href="http://www.patientsfirst.org.uk/">(www.patientsfirst.org.uk </a>) there is light at the end of the tunnel?<br />
<br />Yours hopefully<br />Julie<br />Julie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com0LE16, United Kingdom52.5074181 -0.8582561000000623652.3527241 -1.1809796000000623 52.6621121 -0.53553260000006242tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-21676521532786654832014-10-03T08:31:00.000-07:002014-10-03T08:31:24.139-07:00Poor managers v dynamic managers<br />
Sometimes a leader in nursing in the NHS writes something that seems so patently obvious that it is quite breathtaking that it had to be written, but is also so true. Deputy chief nurse Pete Murphy did just that in an article for the Nursing Times about improving nursing (<a href="http://www.nursingtimes.net/">Nursing Times Staff Management article 24 9 14</a>). <br />
<br />He wrote ‘You (as a deputy chief nurse) cannot sit in your office and be effective, you have to get out and about, see and talk to patients and staff to understand the opportunities and pressures that exist. Personal integrity is key.’ <br />
<br />One of the saddest aspects of unjust and unnecessary suspensions, is the lack of knowledge by the managers concerned higher up the chain of command, who don’t know their staff, and don’t know that this is a silencing or bullying issue. Such disloyalty, such ignorance as to the very severe damage this action does to people, sometimes destroying them, is utterly depressing. <br />
<br />It also needs an environment where leaders are allowed to do this, to know staff in order to support them. In the early days of CAUSE, we heard from a first level manager who tried to do just that and was nearly destroyed. False allegations, suspension, disciplinary action, removal to another part of the organisation. It was more than a year before she was well enough to work again, outside the NHS of course. Who would trust anyone there again?<br />
<br />‘Personal integrity is key’ is the other staggering comment written by Mr Murphy. Something that you would expect to be a given, has to be written. That is another problem with unjust and unnecessary suspensions. The suspending manager now has to justify their action, prove themselves competent to their colleagues. A ‘transparent and fair investigation’ – they don’t know the meaning of these words. What they do know, is that they now have to prove their action was justified, so the witch hunt begins. Look at record keeping, talk to other staff to see if someone there will complain about this staff member who has annoyed the manager by speaking out or by being very good at their job and well respected by the patients. Integrity? They don’t know the meaning of that word either. <br />
<br />One of the aspects of the whole sordid business for family members and friends, observing events, is their astonishment and disbelief that this can happen without any other managers being aware and that the poor powerless staff member, the ‘accused’ has no redress. The words ‘kangaroo court’ are often used to describe these situations.<br />
<br />Thinking about the inquiry into whistleblowing by Sir Robert Francis, the team seem to be starting at the wrong end of the problem. Yes they need to hear people’s stories, the like of which they have already listened to in the Mid Staffs inquiry, but they also need to be interviewing the very managers involved in the injustices to see what can be done to prevent them from behaving in these horrendous ways. They won’t hear any truth from them of course. They will be trying to save their careers. That is what makes it so difficult.<br />
<br />So back to Mr Murphy. I hope his words have an impact but fear that the people who should be reading them, don’t take professional journals, don’t keep up to date and avoid self reflection like the plague.<br />
<br />Gloomily yet again!<br />Julie<br />Julie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com0Market Harborough, Leicestershire UK52.4837918 -0.92691749999994552.4825833 -0.929438999999945 52.485000299999996 -0.924395999999945tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-23084169583910337012014-09-18T09:15:00.000-07:002014-09-18T09:24:51.825-07:00Whistleblowing Inquiry by Sir Robert Francis and unaccountable managers – an impossible situation to resolveI despair of senior managers and leaders in the NHS ever understanding why whistleblowing is a very dangerous activity. All their urgings and all the policies and revised constitutions in the world will not change toxic organisations and therefore will not protect whistleblowers or patients. And now, to make matters worse, staff face possible disciplinary action if they ignore poor practice. <br />
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<a href="http://www.suspension-nhs.org/">The Campaign Against Unnecessary Suspensions and Exclusions UK</a> (CAUSE) was set up twelve years ago to provide information to NHS staff who have been wrongfully suspended, many of whom have tried to blow the whistle and been silenced. <br />
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How might staff get into this whistleblowing position? A common process is a nurse who works in an area with excellent leadership where staff are respected and consulted, then changes jobs. They start on a new ward to find poor working practices. They cannot understand why staff seem to tolerate these harmful practices. <br />
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They try having a quiet word with colleagues who seem approachable. Some may agree but others are defensive and hostile. They try speaking to the Ward Manager and get a negative response. By this time they are labelled as a trouble maker. Worse still, one day they are called into the office and asked to bring a union rep or colleague with them and in a state of shock they are told of vague, unsubstantiated allegations against them. To their disbelief they are suspended and marched off the premises. This scenario, and the ensuing processes, are unbelievable unless you have experienced them, as the team at CAUSE have done. <br />
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Repeatedly we hear of unaccountable managers protecting themselves and undertaking biased investigations, character assassination, lengthy suspensions, disciplinary hearings which resemble kangaroo courts and ultimately dismissal of staff who previously had exemplary work records. The human resources staff seem to feel they need to protect themselves so work with the managers. Undisclosed sums of taxpayers’ money are paid, in out of court settlements if the staff member has the energy and legal support to take their case to employment tribunal. <br />
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Being wrongfully suspended is the most harmful, destructive and devastating action that management can take against a staff member. It is devastating to their families too. Other staff think it is such a serious action to be taken, there must be something wrong and this person’s career and reputation is seriously damaged. The effect of this wrongly labelled ‘neutral act’ makes people ill. When colleagues who know what is happening, see all this, it is understandable that they feel powerless to change anything. Who in their right minds would raise a whisper let alone blow a whistle?<br />
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The unions have some proactive volunteer reps and fulltime officers who are well versed in employment law and not afraid to speak out for their members. However more often the fulltime officers are hard to contact, probably doubt the member’s innocence and will work for the least serious disciplinary outcome. A final written warning is viewed as a victory because dismissal has been avoided even though their member is not guilty of any misconduct.<br />
Nationally CAUSE asked the unions to establish a joint working group to provide expertise to officers faced with these situations, but the numbers of people affected remain comparatively small and the resources of the unions are limited. <br />
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The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) hopes to develop a system to monitor systemic failure in trusts. So far they have ignored the processes I have been describing. This was clearly seen in their ruling for the M Haywood case by the Fitness to Practice team. They described the covertly filmed neglect as ‘failures of an exceptionally serious nature’ but then took no action against the perpetrators and the manager, who had conducted a woefully inadequate investigation . Instead they found the whistleblower guilty and struck her name from the register. The message to whistleblowers was clear – don’t expect us to protect public and staff by taking action where there is malfunctioning management.<br />
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The tragedies that have been uncovered will continue until the Department of Health and the Care Quality Commission face up to the complexity of the situation and the need to look at the indicators that suggest all is not well – the number of suspensions and how they are dealt with, levels of staff sickness and staff retention, and most importantly, patient outcomes, in order to identify and change these toxic organisations.<br />
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So will Sir Robert Francis be able to achieve anything, as he listens to peoples’ tragic stories? Will he be able to make recommendations that will change this dire situation? I so hope so, but while no action continues to be taken against managers who ignore employment processes and often seem to act out of malice or ignorance as to what constitutes danger to patients etc, then I doubt it.<br />
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Yours sadly<br />
JulieJulie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com1Market Harborough, Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16 7BT, UK52.4837918 -0.92691749999994552.4825833 -0.929438999999945 52.485000299999996 -0.924395999999945tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-76691002364416129752014-09-06T07:39:00.000-07:002014-09-06T07:47:11.991-07:00The devastation of suspension and loss of employability<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The devastation of suspension</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lack of understanding about the deadly impact of suspension is a failing I despair about. How will managers ever understand that to be cut off from one’s essential, life enhancing, rewarding work in the most humiliating, unexpected and shocking manner, is a blow that will cause psychological harm, even injury and in many cases, damage the person for life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I wish I was exaggerating. The insights that follow are used with permission and anonymised to protect the sufferer. Read on and if you have any power to change this system, PLEASE use it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Impact of Suspension</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>I was suspended by my line manager, motivated I believe by personal dislike. I was cleared of the false allegations over a protracted four month investigation and disciplinary process, involving two independent investigators. The process ended in me leaving the company, just like I had been told - almost no-one goes back to work after a suspension because the process destroys the necessary 'mutual trust and confidence' between employer and employee.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><br />Now that I have been dismissed, I am free to work. However I am very unwell as a result of the suspension and the events that took place during my suspension. Suspension is not a routine decision, it is a ‘nuclear option.’</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><br />I say this because suspension is a form of exclusion, and human beings react badly to exclusion (probably ever since cavemen died, if they were thrown out of a cave). Employees suddenly must spend huge amounts of time, energy and money fighting the ‘machine’ that kicks in after suspension, replacing a productive day at work with an unfairly balanced dispute that acts negatively upon the employees and their families. It becomes very difficult to fight the case when there is limited access to the necessary information, due to the sanctions placed on a suspended employee.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><br />If an employee is being investigated whilst still at work, they will continue to have good days and bad days like we all do. If the employee is suspended before being investigated, they are effectively stuck in a bad day and they can’t move on from that. It becomes difficult to eat or sleep because the employee is stuck at a particularly troublesome point in time, repeating over and over in their brain whatever happened on those last few days at work.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><br />Employees can quickly become deskilled and lose confidence after suspension. In my case, I had a job that was 70% outward facing, and I simply disappeared one day. I was locked in the battleground that is a suspension, fighting to clear my name, and not able to give any explanation to key stakeholders as to why I had disappeared.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><br />I was moved by the section of the NHS Suspension website which examines the effect on those close to the suspended employee - <a href="http://www.suspension-nhs.org/">http://www.suspension-nhs.org/nhssuspensionquestionresults.htm -</a> and impressed by the ‘Suggestions for Ways to Change the System’ which resulted from this report. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><br />A Doctor’s Opinion</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><br />During my suspension, I spoke to a senior doctor who looked after the well-being of medical staff across two counties. In his experience, suspensions are hugely stressful situations that result in greater coronary strokes and increased risk of suicide amongst other things. However he did not know of any hard data and therefore he stated that he believed that further research was essential.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This person has given a very factual and unemotive account of some of the fallout of suspension that now impacts her daily life and job opportunities. Suspension is a crime against humanity when it is unjust or unnecessary and there need to be ways of preventing it in any organisation, not just the NHS. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Can you help?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yours hopefully</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Julie</span>Julie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com2Market Harborough, Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16 7BT, UK52.4837918 -0.92691749999994552.4825833 -0.929438999999945 52.485000299999996 -0.924395999999945tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-52673214406490676912014-02-11T05:10:00.004-08:002014-02-11T05:17:21.790-08:00Failing managers<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I enjoy reading Jenni Middleton’s editorial comments in the Nursing Times. She doesn’t mince her words though I imagine she has to be careful not to be sued and to keep Department of Health still talking to the Nursing Times.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And there is that slow but relentless Nursing Times campaign to allow nurses to Speak Out Safely. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the meantime, the surveys of staff continue to show that there has been absolutely no change in conditions for many and in some cases, a worsening of the situation.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The NHS is awash with the tears of its staff who end their shifts an emotional wet rag, exhausted and utterly frustrated that they haven’t been able to give the care needed.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But time and time again I am wondering why their managers are not being held to account for these dire situations. Some nurses report that they are just told to ‘get on with it’ when they ask for agency or bank staff to try and fill the gaps.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What sort of response is that?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">An elderly relative lives in a well run small care home. When there are not enough staff on a shift, the manager rolls up her sleeves and gets stuck in. I imagine that historically, ward sisters did the same in these situations. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Of course these days, they’d be rolling up their sleeves every day of the week and at night too, on some of these wards.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In developing countries, where health care is scarce, the families are expected to come with their patient and look after them. I can see that being an answer here in the UK! Any family member with complex care needs , often already depends on family members to get the care they need.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When the situation is so dire and the Government are not going to do anything about it, perhaps that is what hospital managers should set in place! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hospital managers – ahh. I remember when I was suspended and the whole process was taking forever, I had a meeting to attend with the investigating officer at their pleasant headquarters. I had already learnt that when secretaries and administrators were off sick, agency staff were employed to fill the gap. Oh the riches of being in management.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As I was sitting in a comfortable area, waiting to be called to my meeting, the Director of Nursing and other such worthies, walked by, chatting and laughing without a care in the world it seemed, while I sat there as a visible sign of sheer waste, powerlessness and their incompetence! Oh the waste of tax payers money and my life. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While the managers continue to avoid contact with their staff, or listen to them or even know who they are and while their bosses conveniently ignore this fact with complaints piling up and adverse events hidden or not reported then there continues to be no hope for vulnerable patients and caring staff.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yours very sadly</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Julie</span></span>Julie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com0Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16 7BT, UK52.4837918 -0.92691749999994552.4825833 -0.929438999999945 52.485000299999996 -0.924395999999945tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-85669534258722551212013-10-15T04:32:00.002-07:002013-10-15T04:32:44.802-07:00Managers - stop this evilCAUSE has failed so far to persuade managers in the NHS that suspension is the most devastating action they can take against their staff, causing in some cases, irreparable harm and destroying careers. The managers don’t seem to be able to grasp that suspension is to be taken when the problem is very serious and when all other avenues have been explored.<br />
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The blog that has been read the most is about the devastation of suspension. Recently I received a nurse’s reflection on her experience of it. She has given me permission to reproduce it here with some details altered so that she cannot be identified. It was written when she had been recently suspended.<br />
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<i>'It has been an absolute roller coaster of emotions, from deep deep sadness to utter despair and it feels like it has been forever.<br />My life has been turned upside down. <br />What makes me happy has been taken away from me and I have done nothing wrong. My work which is important to me, defines me - my contact with patients, my rapport with them, my reputation – they’ve all disappeared and I don’t think I will ever get that back. </i><br />
<i><br />My family see me in such despair, crying, wandering around the house, unable to do basic jobs. I have always encouraged our children to tell the truth and respect others. How can they respect me now?? This is the hardest thing for me to bear.</i><br />
<i><br />I try and put a brave face on but I think they can see through that. I really try and do something every day, but I go to bed tired and wake up tired. There seems to be no respite from these feelings. <br />I can’t eat and I can’t sleep properly. My dreams are nightmares of not being able to get another job. How am I going to pay the mortgage and bills? </i><br />
<i><br />This suspension is supposed to be a neutral act; how can it be when I feel as though I am being punished for something but I have no idea why or what?</i><br />
<i><br />What’s happening? Will I get to see the complaints that are supposed to have been made? How can I challenge them if I don’t know what they are or when they were supposed to have been made? What happens now? Will it go to a disciplinary hearing? Will I be sacked? Will I be struck off? </i><br />
<i><br />I feel physically sick when I think about my future...... I don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel! </i><br />
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<i>I feel so isolated and alone, if it wasn’t for my family I don’t know where I would be. They have been fantastic. </i><br />
<i><br />I feel that my career is over, not because it was my choice, but it’s been forced upon me. </i><br />
<i><br />I find it so difficult to leave the house for anything. I feel safe here and panic when I know I have to go out. Still need to go to the shops, pay bills, see my doctor. My confidence is rock bottom.</i><br />
<i><br />I worry what people must think about me - the old saying "no smoke without fire" comes to mind. I suppose the people who do know me will say this is all rubbish, which it is.</i><br />
<i><br />If I go back to work how will I be able to face all these people? How can anyone possibly think I will be able to go back to work in that place. That’s why I believe I will be sacked. I have never been sacked in my life!!!!</i><br />
<i><br />My thoughts seem to be on a constant loop, can’t stop thinking then trying to dissect what it all means. I function during the day on auto pilot and can’t see an end to this.<br />Am I stressed.... yes<br />Am I depressed .... yes<br />Am I sad .... yes<br />It’s as though I am going through a grieving process..</i><br />
<i><br />I have worked hard and lived my life to my best ability. If I am sacked I see no other option than having to sell up and leave. That would break my heart but I don’t see any other way. Not only might I lose my right to work in my chosen profession I may have to leave my home.'</i><br />
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So managers out there who won’t be reading this person’s distress but who ought to, plus human resources staff, plus union fulltime officers who sometimes collude with the managers and certainly often fail to show any understanding of the distress and despair suspension causes – WAKE UP ALL OF YOU.<br />
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This is supposed to be the National Health Service, not the National Destruction Service.<br />
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And readers of this blog who understand this person’s heartrending despair, if you have any way of letting the media know about this, please let me know via <a href="http://www.suspension-nhs.org/">www.suspension-nhs.org</a> or feel free to pass it on.<br />
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One day, please Lord, these terrible injustices and this terrible suffering will be no more.<br />
JulieJulie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com2Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16 7BT, UK52.4837918 -0.92691749999994552.4825833 -0.929438999999945 52.485000299999996 -0.924395999999945tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-27587541920259293132013-07-17T06:15:00.000-07:002013-07-17T06:15:26.926-07:00Careers destroyed with no appeal process and no justiceCareers destroyed with no appeal process and no justice<br />
<br />I find it very difficult to open emails from very distressed registrants, who have suffered horrendous injustices but have nowhere to turn to have their stories told and to be reinstated. There is such injustice and it is so hard for people to believe except it has happened to the team members at CAUSE (<a href="http://www.suspension-nhs.org/">see www.suspension-nhs.org)</a> so we know only too well.<br />
<br />One of the worst was of a registrant who had actually completed her training as a midwife but had spent the final year of her placement in a bullying environment that made her ability to work very difficult. She said she became a different person.<br />
<br />She was moved to a supportive hospital when she failed her 1st placement of her final year, where she passed well. She passed her second placement too but was back in the bullying environment for the 3rd and final placement.<br />
<br />Allegations of a couple of drug errors were made but were false. Criticisms were made of her practice but no action plan was written. However, unbelievably, the hospital and the university both claimed that an action plan had been written but that the student had the only copy! Either they were totally incompetent or this was a lie, but they got away with it.<br />
<br />The student was devastated. She appealed to various bodies who believed what the hospital and university told them, without requesting sight of the documents that didn’t exist. <br />
<br /><u>She was unpopular for challenging some practices and for reporting bullying behaviour and that finished her career.</u><br />
<br />She has been unable to get any other organisation to sponsor her to finish her training and lives with the great sadness of this situation.<br />
<br />Worse still, as she noted herself, was the complete waste of tax payers’ money and of her skills that she had developed for a job she longed to do.<br />
<br />Major failings of the Care Quality Commission, with the possibility of a cover up, to hide these, have come to light. They demonstrate the possibility of serious corruption in high places and the <b>total lack of accountability that currently exists. </b><br />
<br />Not only do these people need to be investigated but also the many staff who have suffered horrendous injustices, should also have a chance to tell their stories and see justice. There would be a great influx of dedicated and committed staff who would help to change the culture of the NHS because the numbers are so high.<br />
<br />That is, if they ever wanted to return…<br />
<br />In great sadness<br />JulieJulie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com2Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16 7BT, UK52.4837918 -0.92691749999994552.4825833 -0.929438999999945 52.485000299999996 -0.924395999999945tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-50515280916457505792013-06-06T08:21:00.000-07:002013-06-06T08:21:41.643-07:00<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Drug errors need systems failure analysis not punishment</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />People regularly get in touch with <a href="http://www.suspension-nhs.org/">www.suspension-nhs.org</a> who are in a state of shock having made a drug error and been suspended. A knee jerk reaction by their manager? Don’t they have any confidence in their staff? Do they even know them?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />I’m not writing here about someone who has made several errors and now needs an assessment to find out if they are safe to practice. How did they qualify in the first place if they are unsafe? Why weren’t they found out before now? Systems failure and the whole problem of ‘failing’ students on their placements – having the support to do it and then to help the failing student, rather than abandoning them, seems to be the main issue here. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />If they haven’t made repeated errors, the next question should be - is something going very wrong for them in their personal lives, making concentration at work very difficult? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Back to the usually safe practitioner – and their incompetent manager. The manager now has to justify their draconian action so a witch hunt begins. There’s no chance of them following the guidelines for investigations to be transparent and fair, to find out what has actually happened. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />The increasingly pressured climate of staff shortages and higher numbers of frail patients with multiple health problems means staff are at greater risk of making errors. <br />What difference would a duty of candour make? It is planned for organisations post Mid Staffs, but what of staff on the ground? Would it help to stop suspensions for mistakes and see managers deal correctly with errors? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Kate Wynn, our Scottish spokesperson at <a href="http://www.suspension-nhs.org/">www.suspension-nhs.org</a> feels passionate about this subject and has given me permission to quote her thought provoking observations. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> "Drug errors, as with errors in everything else, happen all the time. If they are truly ERRORS then no-one should ever be suspended for one - even if it kills the patient, which on occasion it might do (hopefully very rarely). We are human beings therefore we will always make mistakes. We need nurses to be human beings - robots cannot nurse.<br /><br />I believe all nurses who practise for any length of time make drug errors at one time or another and usually, or perhaps always, if they practise long enough they will make more than one. I've made more than one (that I know of that is - I may have made one or more that I don't know about) and I believe I'm no worse in that respect than any other nurse. <br /><br />When I made my first drug error I was in bits and wracked with guilt. I had a manager at the time who understood that it was actually a normal event and she helped me to come to terms with what I'd done by her empathic understanding. Her attitude, quite rightly, was that my own conscience would punish me more than was justified therefore all I needed from her was compassion. When I made my second drug error I did initially think that I was a terrible person and that no-one else had ever done such a thing. It took me a considerable amount of time to realise that I was not failing in some way, I was only honest for reporting it.<br /><br />I did not know all of this until I had nursed for more than 20 years. Then I was the Senior Nurse of a small hospital at a time when there was a lot of talk about 'learning from the airline industry' and 'getting rid of the blame culture'. Over a period of years and with a lot of hard work, I eventually fostered a working environment where nurses were not afraid to come forward if they realised they had made a drug error. I'm confident that eventually all the drug errors that the nurses knew they had made were then reported. Reporting then happened promptly so that a doctor could be consulted and any necessary action taken. The patients were informed of the errors, as were their relatives etc. No-one was disciplined for a genuine error. No patients or families complained about a drug error - they thanked us for our openness. We tried to identify where the system was wrong and to right such wrongs but errors did continue to happen, because we were all human and we were required to undertake a potentially dangerous activity. <br /><br />Were there any other outcomes? Yes, eventually there was one - talk of a 'no-blame culture' disappeared and I was criticised personally because I had the highest number of drug errors in the wider Health Board area within my unit!! (Of course I'm sure I didn't - the unit I managed just had the highest number of REPORTED errors.) What's for certain is that nurses in that hospital (where I no longer work) will no more be so quick to report it if they know they have made a mistake, and that means that a patient is more likely to die or to be seriously harmed."</span></span></span><br /><br />Great words of wisdom there from Kate and the evidence, though anecdotal, that being allowed to report without repercussions is actually much safer than a culture of punishment and blame.<br /><br />Will anything change? Sadly it seems not and we are destined to continue to open emails from honest and hardworking, over stretched staff, in shock because of the action taken against them. Please competent managers, sort out your incompetent colleagues to get this terrible injustice stopped. But be warned, if this is the general culture of your organisation, then you may find yourself in trouble too.<br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Despairingly </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Julie</span>Julie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com1Market Harborough LE16, UK52.5074181 -0.8582561000000623652.3527241 -1.1809796000000623 52.6621121 -0.53553260000006242tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-82798835713235465002013-05-02T03:30:00.003-07:002013-05-02T03:30:59.585-07:00The NHS Black Hole; the DisappearedAnother person disappears down the NHS black hole - the disappeared<br />
<br />A great sadness to me is the number of people who have been lost to the NHS because of corrupt NHS managers and cruel or fearful colleagues. The people destroyed are usually conscientious staff, and not very popular with any colleagues whose work is shoddy, who bully or who don’t much care for patients and caring.<br />
<br />Why are they working there then you wonder? Good question. And I don’t have to justify these statements because the press has been flagging up horrendous stories of cruelty and neglect. See <a href="http://www.dignifiedrevolution.com/">www.dignifiedrevolution.com </a>for some of these.<br />
<br />Back to the conscientious workers. They are popular with patients because they care and are passionate about nursing and sadly that makes them even more unpopular with these malfunctioning people. The carers answer calls for help. They are usually very careful with their record keeping, staying behind to finish the work.<br />
<br />Apart from these carers committing suicide, which tragically I believe has happened though I don’t have details, the worst thing of all happened to Amanda Jenkinson. <br />
<br />Her life was destroyed by her colleagues and trust/employer. (What a misnamed word ‘trust’ can be, I always think.) Very serious allegations were made against her and she ended up serving a 4 year prison sentence. Imagine that. I can’t. <br />
<br />A colleague bravely wrote of her ‘She was always innocent but was betrayed by her colleagues who allowed events to escalate into something they could not control. The management at the time was weak and positively encouraged rivalry and animosity between colleagues. Nurses felt threatened by Amanda Jenkinson's knowledge, skills and expertise which should have been seen as an asset to the profession rather than creating insecurity from lesser qualified nurses in a more senior position. Amanda Jenkinson became a victim simply because of her intelligence, no nonsense professional demeanour and witty sense of humour.’ <i>From the internet.</i><br />
<br />That aptly describes what has been replicated times without number for many others, though thankfully, without the dreadful experience of a prison sentence but nearly as bad.<br />Betrayal by colleagues, very destructive management behaviours and professional jealousy to the point of active animosity follow.<br />
<br />Hard to believe? In a supposedly caring profession? Yes. And so unquantified and unresearched and concealed, making this dark side of the NHS even more sinister. <br />
<br />It took a further five years for Ms Jenkinson to have the sentence quashed as unsafe, because of the mathematics of a so called expert witness. What a waste of that poor woman’s life and skills, what a loss to those patients she might have cared for, if this had never happened.<br />
<br />And what sort of healing help was there for Ms Jenkinson afterwards or for any of these victims of travesties of justice? To my knowledge, nothing at all. Did she return to nursing? I understand she never wanted anything to do with it ever again.<br />
<br />How many hours of dedicated nursing and midwifery and health visiting care have been lost to the public? Other disciplines too. <br />
<br />If this blog achieves anything, I hope it can help towards bringing these sorts of terrible injustices to an end.<br />Julie<br />Julie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com1Market Harborough LE16, UK52.5074181 -0.8582561000000623652.3527241 -1.1809796000000623 52.6621121 -0.53553260000006242tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-19904766961538195692013-04-17T13:55:00.000-07:002013-04-17T13:55:27.970-07:00Blow the Whistle? Absolutely not unless.....12 years ago I would have said yes, we must raise concerns when we have them. It is only fair to patients and colleagues.<br />
<br />In a short space of time, after starting the<a href="http://www.suspension-nhs.org/"> www.suspension-nhs.org</a> website, I began to realise that it was an extremely dangerous thing to do and counterproductive, because people were silenced and disappeared, almost without trace down some sort of NHS black hole equivalent.<br />
<br />That sounds dramatic I know, but the whistleblower was silenced by false allegations being made against them followed by suspension, with the customary warning not to contact work colleagues or go on to trust property.<br />
<br />It was very effective. A delay before the unsubstantiated allegations were sent in the post – probably by second class post. No hurry here – very demoralising. Then another wait till the investigatory interview, followed by another long wait before a date for a disciplinary hearing was set. The whole thing a kangaroo court travesty of injustice with the whistleblower’s defence ignored. <br />
<br />By this time they are fighting for their professional career and have very little energy left to return to the concerns they tried to raise.<br />
<br />You see, the whole point of needing to whistle blow in the first place is that the managers are not listening, don’t want to listen and may even be friends and protectors of the poor practitioners etc.<br />If you look at the Patients First website (www.patientsfirst.org.uk) you’ll see a gallery of eminent whistleblowers whose stories make your blood boil, the injustices they have suffered at terrible personal cost on every front – emotional, physical, psychological, relational, and financial for example.<br />Endless policies have been written and staff even threatened with disciplinary action if they don’t speak up. No action is contemplated against managers who don’t respond, though there are stirrings post Francis report! <br />
No action against the staff who make false allegations. <br />No actions against investigators who start a search (witch hunt) to find anything they can to add to the charges to justify their suspension/silencing of the staff member,and increasing their distress.<br />
<br />Helene Donnelly who bravely raised concerns at Mid Staffs and who suffered the consequences, was so fortunate to get out before she was silenced. And her heroism has come to light because of the tireless campaign by Julie Bailey and others, to get justice for the many people who needlessly died in that place, also at considerable personal cost to Julie. See <a href="http://www.curethenhs.co.uk/">www.curethenhs.co.uk </a><br />
<br />There is a glimmer of light in Terry Dennis’s paper ‘Coping with toxic organisations’ (see <a href="http://www.healthcarealliances.co.uk/">www.healthcarealliances.co.uk</a> Information Services) in which he suggests ways of starting to carry colleagues with you when you want to try and change the situation. He warns it is not for the fainthearted and a slow process. <br />
<br />And that’s the problem – people’s homes depend on their incomes and there have been people who have contacted us, who have lost their homes after losing their livelihoods.<br /><br /><i>A very strange phenomenon is that where whistleblowers are being very effectively silenced at one end of the spectrum, at the other end of the spectrum, where there has been gross misconduct by staff, managers have covered up and protected these practitioners. See <a href="https://twitter.com/tomsanguish">https://twitter.com/tomsanguish</a> to follow one such tragic story. </i><br />Blow the whistle – definitely not unless the rest of the staff will stand with you and you can get someone to investigate from outside the organisation who actually has the power and the willingness to intervene. Ah, there’s the rub……<br />Julie<br />Julie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com2Market Harborough LE16, UK52.5074181 -0.8582561000000623652.3527241 -1.1809796000000623 52.6621121 -0.53553260000006242tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-43015711969246645042013-04-11T15:24:00.000-07:002013-04-11T15:24:13.550-07:00English Chief Nurses - Can't Help, Won't HelpDame Sarah Mullally was the English chief nurse when the suspension website<br /><a href="http://www.suspension-nhs.org/">(www.suspension-nhs.org )</a> was set up in 2003. She granted me a 10 minute phone call, was empathetic and a realist. She was unable to offer any help at that time with the way things were in the Department of Health and the Government.<br />
<br />Professor Christine Beasley (now also Dame) came to the helm. I wrote to her. Silence. Craig in our team fared much better. Dame Beasley denied there was a problem of unjust suspensions in the NHS. And she should know because she was travelling the country and meeting lots of people.<br />
<br />That was a staggering response of utter ignorance about people. As if trusts are going to admit to problems. Of course they get out the red carpet and show how everything in the garden is rosy. She needed to look below the surface at mortality rates, staff sickness and retention rates – to name a few. <br />
She couldn’t look at numbers of staff currently suspended because the Department of Health refused to have any record kept. Too scared as they already knew the numbers were high from the National Audit Office report of 2003 (<b>The Management of Suspensions of Clinical Staff in NHS Hospital and Ambulance Trusts in England Nov. 6th ’03</b>)<br />
<br />Back to the English chief nurse – about 30 people sent her their stories in strict confidence and some fear and trepidation in case anything was leaked to the offending trusts, for fear of reprisals.<br />
<br />Her response, in collaboration with The National Patient Safety Agency, was to set out some Principles - <br /><i>Title : <b>Handling concerns about the performance of healthcare professionals:</b><br /><b>principles of good practice</b><br /><b>Author DH & National Patient Safety Agency</b><br />Publication Date September 2006<br /><b>Target Audience</b> PCT CEs, NHS Trusts CEs, SHA CEs, Care Trust CEs, Foundation Trust CEs,<br />Medical Directors, Directors of Nursing, NHS Trust Board Chairs, Special HA<br />CEs, Directors of HR, Allied Health Professionals, GPs, Communications<br />Leads<br /><b>Circulation List </b>PCT CEs, NHS Trusts CEs, SHA CEs, Foundation Trust CEs,<br />Medical Directors, Directors of Nursing, NHS Trust Board Chairs, Special HA<br />CEs, Directors of HR, Allied Health Professionals, GPs, Communications<br />Leads, Emergency Care Leads, NDPBs, Independent Healthcare Leads<br />Description This best practice guidance on handling concerns about professional<br />practice has been developed collaboratively by senior individuals of all<br />healthcare professions, regulators, commissioners and patient groups. It<br />will be useful in all settings where healthcare is offered and encompasses<br />everyone whatever their position in the organisation</i><br /><br />Now why would anyone imagine that these malfunctioning managers are going to know about the Principles, let alone adhere to them.<br />‘Oh look, our beloved leader says we should be doing this. What a good idea. Transparent and fair – what a good idea.’<br />
<br />It would be laughable if it weren’t that people are being destroyed by these people – horrendous.<br />
<br />So<b> </b>it was a complete waste of time as managers already had <b>the Incident Decision Tree</b> to guide them what action was necessary when there were problems, and <b>Root Cause Analysis</b> to identify <b>systems failures</b> and how to prevent any further problems.<br />
If they’d ever done it in the first place. <br />A lot of the people we at CAUSE were hearing from, were innocent targets.<br />
<br />Big sigh. Oh the pain and suffering that is going on right now and people just don’t know unless they are directly involved. <br />Will it ever end?<br />Julie<br />Julie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com1Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16, UK52.475769 -0.9215169999999943752.437084 -1.0021979999999944 52.514454 -0.84083599999999437tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-43020649390896058742013-04-08T13:43:00.002-07:002013-04-08T13:43:53.494-07:00The Devastation of Suspension - Never a Neutral ActOne of the things that distresses me beyond words is the way innocent staff are accused of things they haven’t done and told that it’s ok, that suspension is a neutral act.<br />
<br />How can it be neutral when it sends someone into a state of shock. If it were neutral, the suspended person would not feel threatened.<br />
<br />Isolated, ill, humiliated, and one’s work rubbished as the person has been torn away from it, instantly.<br />
<br /><u>Lord Justice Elias</u>, at the Court of Appeal, made these observations about suspension. ( See <br /><a href="http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/138.html)">http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/138.html)</a><br />
<br /><i>This case raises a matter which causes me some concern. It appears to be the almost automatic response of many employers to allegations of this kind to suspend the employees concerned, and to forbid them from contacting anyone, as soon as a complaint is made, and quite irrespective of the likelihood of the complaint being established. As Lady Justice Hale, as she was, pointed out in <a href="http://Gogay v Herfordshire County Council [2000] IRLR 703">Gogay v Herfordshire County Council [2000] IRLR 703</a>, even where there is evidence supporting an investigation, that does not mean that suspension is automatically justified. </i><br />
<i>It should not be a knee jerk reaction, and it will be a breach of the duty of trust and confidence towards the employee if it is. </i><br />
<i>I appreciate that suspension is often said to be in the employee's best interests; but many employees would question that, and in my view they would often be right to do so. They will frequently feel belittled and demoralised by the total exclusion from work and the enforced removal from their work colleagues, many of whom will be friends. This can be psychologically very damaging. </i><br />
<i>Even if they are subsequently cleared of the charges, the suspicions are likely to linger, not least I suspect because the suspension appears to add credence to them. </i><br />
<i>It would be an interesting piece of social research to discover to what extent those conducting disciplinary hearings subconsciously <b>start from the assumption that the employee suspended in this way is guilty and look for evidence to confirm it.</b> </i><br />
<i>It was partly to correct that danger that the courts have imposed an obligation on the employers to ensure that they focus as much on evidence which exculpates the employee as on that which inculpates him. </i><br />
<br />How true all this is, though couched in cautious language!<br />
<br />I suspect that the manager who has made the decision to suspend the staff member will now try to justify their draconian action to their colleagues so are bent on finding anything and everything to add credence to their action. It is not subconscious in my view, but deliberate, the words ‘witch hunt’ coming to mind. <br />
<br />What injustice and what a mess and no one knows this is going on except the poor people experiencing it and an employment tribunal, if it gets that far.<br />Julie<br />Julie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com3Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16, UK52.475769 -0.9215169999999943752.437084 -1.0021979999999944 52.514454 -0.84083599999999437tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2679496965091422062.post-89107022428010776452013-04-06T13:32:00.001-07:002013-04-06T13:33:10.347-07:00Malicious, Malfunctioning, Cowardly or Just Plain Incompetent - Some managersSo what am I trying to expose about these malfunctioning, inept or possibly downright evil managers. Is evil too strong a word for the worst sort? The accusations against the senior nurses at present before the Nursing and Midwifery Council from Mid Staffs Hospital, describe severely bullying behaviour that destroys people. Surely that’s evil, whatever the pressures on the people perpetrating such behaviour?<br />
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I have known a couple of people who have been very badly treated and who have become obsessed with fighting back through employment tribunals, running out of money, destroying their marriages and becoming convinced that there is a great conspiracy going on out there.<br />
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Does the truth prevail or will it finally be revealed? <br />
There are people who have been struck off by the NMC who are entirely innocent. There are other staff who have been disciplined for things they didn’t do. I think these numbers are substantial.<br />
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Where are the unions? That will have to wait for another blog!<br />
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I’ve often thought about these managers, how they can do these things. Who are they? Where is their integrity? As they have often been suppressing the truth, are they safe to have working in the NHS? I think not. If they lie in these proportions, what else are they capable of?<br />
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Teachers say that failed teachers often end up working as Ofsted inspectors. Sometimes nursing staff wonder if the same process is in action in the NHS. One thing these management people are very good at, is talking. They are very convincing, especially to their superiors.<br />
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The whole culture can become very destructive. Terry Dennis, of the wonderful Dignified Revolution campaign group (<a href="http://www.dignifiedrevolution.org.uk/">www.dignifiedrevolution.org.uk</a>) has produced two papers about toxic organisations and difficult colleagues, available to download at <a href="http://www.healthcarealliances.co.uk./">www.healthcarealliances.co.uk.</a> <br />
( See Articles. ) Mr Dennis quotes well known psychological experiments that demonstrate how managers can lose the plot and how other staff join in, for a variety of reasons. <br />
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One of the shocks for many suspended people, is the way people they thought were friends, turn against them. Many people say that they found out who their friends really were when they suffered their nightmare experience.<br />
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As the managers are currently wholly unaccountable to any outside agency, they are free to behave in these ways until the day they retire, leaving a trail of destruction behind them.<br />
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Hopefully all this will change since the release of the Francis Report into Mid Staffs and the concerted actions of groups like Patients First (<a href="http://www.patientsfirst.org.uk/">www.patientsfirst.org.uk</a>) and Cure the NHS <a href="http://www.curethenhs.co.uk/">(www.curethenhs.co.uk )</a>.<br />
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So on that optimistic note, I’ll stop.<br />
With best wishes<br />
JulieJulie Faganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640763646223825071noreply@blogger.com2Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16, UK52.475769 -0.9215169999999943752.437084 -1.0021979999999944 52.514454 -0.84083599999999437