The 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. https://i.emlfiles4.com/cmpdoc/9/7/2/8/1/1/files/56794_letter-to-chairs-and-chief-executives-24-may-2019.pdf
They were published last May and distributed to Care Quality Commission Chair, NHS Providers Chair, Nursing and Midwifery Council Chief Executive and NHS Employers.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I publish the Guidance below before it disappears without trace as so many guidelines and reports and initiatives have done before it.
Yours with no glimmer of hope
Julie Fagan
Additional guidance relating to the management and oversight of local investigation and disciplinary procedures
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).
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).
2. Applying a rigorous decision-making methodology
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.
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.
3. Ensuring people are fully trained and competent to carry out their role
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.
4. Assigning sufficient resources
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.
5. Decisions relating to the implementation of suspensions/exclusions
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.
6. Safeguarding people’s health and wellbeing
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.
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.
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.
7. Board-level oversight
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.
Thank you for your attention to these vital issues.
Best wishes
Baroness Dido Harding, Chair, NHS Improvement
Wednesday, 29 January 2020
Saturday, 15 June 2019
NMC Fitness to Practice destroys staff
So often when staff are referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Fitness to Practice (FtP) court the allegation being made is unjustified or worse still, untrue and therefore unsubstantiated.
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.
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.
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.
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 …)
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.
Her poem eloquently describes the impact this verdict had on her.
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.
THIS DAY
This day I put my faith in you,
And hoped you’d see my side.
I sat there, tried to listen hard,
But really only cried.
This day I put my faith in you,
I respected all you said.
I felt I owed you everything,
I believed each word I read.
This day I put my faith in you,
I thought you’d have my back.
But as I sat and listened,
I began to see the cracks.
This day I put my faith in you,
I should have stayed at home.
Today you walked away from me,
You told me I was done.
This day I lost my faith in you,
My PIN is yours to hold.
It was never mine, but on loan to me,
And now it’s yours I’m told.
This day I lost my faith in you,
You brandished me unfit.
My years they count for nothing,
I disappear… I sit.
This day I lost my faith in you,
As you listened to the lies.
I thought you’d care for me as well,
I’m not worthy in your eyes.
This day I put my faith in you,
But you washed your hands of me.
So now I try to build my life,
Scarred by NMC.
This day I lost my faith in you,
I have nowhere I can turn.
The largest part of me is gone,
There’s no lessons that you learn.
This day I tried to find the strength,
Not to hold my head in shame.
I know I did the best I could,
I was not the one to blame.
This day I try to carry on,
To see that I am more,
Than just my PIN, my life as a nurse,
My growth, my ethos and my core.
This day our patients lost their chance,
To have my care and skill
Your panel took that chance away,
One less to help the ill.
One day you may a lesson learn
That few of us recover
Broken by your lack of care
A line of souls to suffer.
Dedicated to the 15 nurses who died since April 2015,
before their Fitness to Practice cases concluded.
NMCWatch supports nurses and midwives affected by the Fitness to Practice process.
If you would like to support visit: https://www.gofundme.com/nursesampmidwives-legal-support
Monday, 11 February 2019
How 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.
What does that person have to do, to ‘come out’ safely and unscathed? Is it even possible?
Even writing these questions feels dangerous, such is the corrupt nature of some of our NHS management.
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.
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.
Would it be possible to take a very very low profile, to be unidentifiable? Or even resign from post. And then be active.
What a choice to have to make.
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?
Craig Longstaff is a veteran whistleblower. He added the following very insightful safety requirements.
(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.
(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.
(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.
Hopefully this will show positive outcomes; they need to make sure it is covered & documented in their appraisals that management have no issues.
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.
(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.
(5) In any investigation say as little as possible because they WILL "misinterpret" & manipulate your words to fit their intended outcome.
It is for them to prove guilt, not the accused to prove their innocence, whilst countering any "evidence" presented where necessary.
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.
(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.
There is a lot of published research to support what is being written here. Here is one such powerful recent example.
Dr Rachael Pope 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.
Dr Pope’s research has identified a culture of blindness, deafness and destructive behaviours that effectively silence and destroy.
Staff are afraid to speak out. Their actions won’t hit brick walls but instead effective silencing actions that can engulf and destroy them.
How different it would be if the NHS was willing to listen and learn honestly in a culture of respect.
See Organizational silence in the NHS: 'Hear no, see no, speak no' -
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ziSW4NxaqbCaCKDU5nFV/full
The practitioner alone has to make the decision, one they can live with.
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.
Yours sadly,
Julie
What does that person have to do, to ‘come out’ safely and unscathed? Is it even possible?
Even writing these questions feels dangerous, such is the corrupt nature of some of our NHS management.
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.
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.
Would it be possible to take a very very low profile, to be unidentifiable? Or even resign from post. And then be active.
What a choice to have to make.
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?
Craig Longstaff is a veteran whistleblower. He added the following very insightful safety requirements.
(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.
(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.
(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.
Hopefully this will show positive outcomes; they need to make sure it is covered & documented in their appraisals that management have no issues.
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.
(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.
(5) In any investigation say as little as possible because they WILL "misinterpret" & manipulate your words to fit their intended outcome.
It is for them to prove guilt, not the accused to prove their innocence, whilst countering any "evidence" presented where necessary.
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.
(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.
There is a lot of published research to support what is being written here. Here is one such powerful recent example.
Dr Rachael Pope 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.
Dr Pope’s research has identified a culture of blindness, deafness and destructive behaviours that effectively silence and destroy.
Staff are afraid to speak out. Their actions won’t hit brick walls but instead effective silencing actions that can engulf and destroy them.
How different it would be if the NHS was willing to listen and learn honestly in a culture of respect.
See Organizational silence in the NHS: 'Hear no, see no, speak no' -
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ziSW4NxaqbCaCKDU5nFV/full
The practitioner alone has to make the decision, one they can live with.
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.
Yours sadly,
Julie
Wednesday, 11 July 2018
Disastrous monitoring by PSA protecting malfunctioning managers
Is the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC https://www.nmc.org.uk ) Fit to practice (FtP)? But maybe more importantly, is the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/home )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.
To see the document for yourself go to
https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/docs/default-source/publications/performance-reviews/performance-review---nmc-2016-17.pdf?sfvrsn=bd067220_6
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.
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.
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?
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.
An achievement?
Can no one in the Department of Health see these glaring failures of judgement?
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 https://www.facebook.com/groups/460231920997990 if you wish to find out more.
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 enquiries@suspension-nhs.org.
But it seems the PSA is not interested or just doesn’t have insight into the terrible harm caused.
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.
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.
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.
Is the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Fit to practice? Am I wrong in claiming that the NMC is not Fit to Practice?
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.
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.
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’.
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.
Yours despairingly
Julie
To see the document for yourself go to
https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/docs/default-source/publications/performance-reviews/performance-review---nmc-2016-17.pdf?sfvrsn=bd067220_6
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.
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.
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?
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.
An achievement?
Can no one in the Department of Health see these glaring failures of judgement?
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 https://www.facebook.com/groups/460231920997990 if you wish to find out more.
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 enquiries@suspension-nhs.org.
But it seems the PSA is not interested or just doesn’t have insight into the terrible harm caused.
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.
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.
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.
Is the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Fit to practice? Am I wrong in claiming that the NMC is not Fit to Practice?
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.
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.
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’.
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.
Yours despairingly
Julie
Saturday, 10 February 2018
Scapegoating staff after critical incidents
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.
Jenni Middleton, Editor of the Nursing Times (www.nursingtimes.net) 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 .
Ironically, the trust involved, has since made changes to their systems to prevent a re-occurrence 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. https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/health/hospital-chief-deeply-sorry-over-201014
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. https://thesecretbarrister.com/2018/01/31/some-thoughts-on-dr-bawa-garba-and-our-faith-in-the-jury-system
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?
www.suspension-nhs.org
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.
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.)
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.
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.
What a mess.
Julie
Jenni Middleton, Editor of the Nursing Times (www.nursingtimes.net) 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 .
Ironically, the trust involved, has since made changes to their systems to prevent a re-occurrence 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. https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/health/hospital-chief-deeply-sorry-over-201014
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. https://thesecretbarrister.com/2018/01/31/some-thoughts-on-dr-bawa-garba-and-our-faith-in-the-jury-system
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?
www.suspension-nhs.org
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.
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.)
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.
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.
What a mess.
Julie
Tuesday, 7 November 2017
Light at the end of the tunnel: re-thinking disciplinary action in the NHS
At 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?
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.
Patient care suffers – one less member of staff, other staff demoralised by their colleague’s disappearance, vague rumours.
BUT there is hope. 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. See https://mdxminds.com/2017/09/19/rethinking-disciplinary-action-in-the-nhs . See also https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/workforce-race-equality-standard-data-report-2016.pdf for more examples of different approaches summarised by Roger (pp 110-143).
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.
Using the Incident Decision Tree series of questions as an initial guide helps to clarify the issues and the course of action needed.
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.
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.
What now needs to happen 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.
What a hope and what a difference it would make. Thank you Roger.
Julie Fagan
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.
Patient care suffers – one less member of staff, other staff demoralised by their colleague’s disappearance, vague rumours.
BUT there is hope. 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. See https://mdxminds.com/2017/09/19/rethinking-disciplinary-action-in-the-nhs . See also https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/workforce-race-equality-standard-data-report-2016.pdf for more examples of different approaches summarised by Roger (pp 110-143).
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.
Using the Incident Decision Tree series of questions as an initial guide helps to clarify the issues and the course of action needed.
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.
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.
What now needs to happen 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.
What a hope and what a difference it would make. Thank you Roger.
Julie Fagan
Wednesday, 20 September 2017
Dysfunctional NHS managers with narcissistic or psychopathic personality disorders
A 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.
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.
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 www.suspension-nhs.org website and see what power and harm these people can do, you will understand why I write that.
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?
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.
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.
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.
I feel alarm for their victims 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?
If you have any ideas please email me at enquiries@suspension-nhs.org Thank you
Julie
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.
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 www.suspension-nhs.org website and see what power and harm these people can do, you will understand why I write that.
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?
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.
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.
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.
I feel alarm for their victims 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?
If you have any ideas please email me at enquiries@suspension-nhs.org Thank you
Julie
Thursday, 27 July 2017
Failing trusts but what about failing leaders of failing trusts?
Failing trusts but what about failing leaders of failing trusts?
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".
http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2017-04-06/northern-lincolnshire-and-goole-nhs-trust-back-in-special-measures-after-inadequate-rating/
"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."
– Ellen Armistead, Care Quality Commission www.cqc.org.uk www.cqc.org.uk
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 the trust chairperson insisted that things were improving.
http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/grimsby-news/grimsby-hospital-trust-chair-launches-175112 http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/grimsby-news/grimsby-hospital-trust-chair-launches-175112
If that is so, then why had a senior manager felt the need to write anonymously to the local MPs stating that
"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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
However, her response underlined how dysfunctional the management team had become. The Grimsby Telegraph reported ‘in response, Ms Shaw, hit back at the author
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.
"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.
"This person is part of the reason the trust is in special measures. This individual is disappointing and is clearly frustrated.
"Any staff member who doesn't feel valued has people who they can talk to."
Having made that attack on the anonymous author, the newspaper report went on to say -
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.’
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”!
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:
"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.
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.
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?
Yours despairingly
Julie
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".
http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2017-04-06/northern-lincolnshire-and-goole-nhs-trust-back-in-special-measures-after-inadequate-rating/
"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."
– Ellen Armistead, Care Quality Commission www.cqc.org.uk www.cqc.org.uk
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 the trust chairperson insisted that things were improving.
http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/grimsby-news/grimsby-hospital-trust-chair-launches-175112 http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/grimsby-news/grimsby-hospital-trust-chair-launches-175112
If that is so, then why had a senior manager felt the need to write anonymously to the local MPs stating that
"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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
However, her response underlined how dysfunctional the management team had become. The Grimsby Telegraph reported ‘in response, Ms Shaw, hit back at the author
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.
"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.
"This person is part of the reason the trust is in special measures. This individual is disappointing and is clearly frustrated.
"Any staff member who doesn't feel valued has people who they can talk to."
Having made that attack on the anonymous author, the newspaper report went on to say -
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.’
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”!
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:
"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.
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.
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?
Yours despairingly
Julie
Tuesday, 30 May 2017
Action, not words, is needed but what?
Action, not
words, is needed but what?
Recently I
was able to attend the Turn up the Volume 2 conference in London, called and
arranged by Steve Turner. See https://www.nonexecutivedirectors.com/steve-turner-ned-9574.html for details of Steve’s career
and extensive experience. In particular,
in 2014 he set up and continues to manage Care Right Now (CIC)www.carerightnow.co.uk a
Social Enterprise Company delivering healthcare service development, based on
education and learning. And yes, he was a whistleblower
with the usual destructive outcomes.
Grim but after recovery from the harm, Steve is very much back in action. Inspirational.
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. Better still of course would be
no further need for whistleblowing, with listening and responding trust boards,
as some are now starting to do. We can
dream that one day it will be all trusts. (See the website Care Right Now (CIC)
for details of the speakers at Turn Up the Volume 2.
There were
frequent opportunities for the audience to contribute their thoughts. Many of
the audience were whistle blowers so well placed to speak.
When the www.suspension-nhs.org 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. These
people joined me in helping people in similar situations and we all began to
campaign. Some have continued but I
stopped to care for my husband. He was
set free from Parkinson’s disease last year and I am free to return to the
campaigning. I am also in the process of
updating the www.suspension-nhs.org website.
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.
En route I
read the document published in 2014 by the whistleblowing helpline called
‘Raising concerns at work’. (See www.wbhelpline.org.uk
to read or download a copy.) The Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt,
wrote in the Foreword,
‘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.’
A loud amen
to that but it is not happening everywhere and the usual horror story follows. More action is desperately needed. Contact enquiries@suspension-nhs.org
with your suggestions for what can be done please.
Here is to justice
and truth and patient focused honest care.
Julie
Tuesday, 12 January 2016
So what are whistleblowers up against?
Poetry makes the point
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.
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.
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?
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….
Whistle and they’ll come for you…
I’m the last of the radical nurses
I’ve got Bevan tattooed on my bum
and I believe that the sickest of patients
get the least care and that’s wrong.
I don’t like this tick-box culture
nor doing the care on the cheap
and I don’t think the family silver
should go to a great private heap
I think that the management tiers
pay themselves what I consider excess
as they preside over a system that’s failing
and ensure staff are blamed in the press.
I’ve watched all my NHS heroes
Graham Pink, David Drew….Rita Pal
speak out for what they believe in
to get thoroughly trounced
and I howl!
I’ve gone up the management ladder
to raise my concerns time by time…
So these poems are my very last option
to whistle blow here in bold rhyme.
Written warning
A word of wisdom in your ear…
‘You care too much!’ they said
Our job is ticking boxes
We are audit culture lead.
So take your fine ideas
You can protest in your head
Our job is ticking boxes
Initiative is dead.
Part of the union
When we asked for some support from the union,
we were bowled over when we were told
You must do as your managers tell you
And you’ll keep a job ‘til you’re old.
If they don’t want you to talk to the doctors
or log on their computers… OK.
It’s only about vulnerable patients
So not the management plan to this day.
and finally with thanks to the author who for obvious reasons has to remain anonymous….
Speaking up
If you are a doctor
they damn your career to hell.
And if you are a nurse
they discipline you if you tell.
But if you’re at the very bottom
the kicks and cuts are tough
from your erstwhile colleagues
when you are beaten up.
The suits who take the salaries
they really don’t want to know
as their next promotion
is where they are keen to go.
So don’t speak up for the patients
The vulnerable and the old
‘Cos when you work in healthcare
You should just do as you’re told.
Again my sincere thanks to the author of these verses. They capture so much, so well. I hope they get a wide readership.
And judging by the steady numbers of staff still contacting the www.suspension-nhs.org team, nothing has changed. Dire for us all, in every capacity.
Julie
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.
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.
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?
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….
Whistle and they’ll come for you…
I’m the last of the radical nurses
I’ve got Bevan tattooed on my bum
and I believe that the sickest of patients
get the least care and that’s wrong.
I don’t like this tick-box culture
nor doing the care on the cheap
and I don’t think the family silver
should go to a great private heap
I think that the management tiers
pay themselves what I consider excess
as they preside over a system that’s failing
and ensure staff are blamed in the press.
I’ve watched all my NHS heroes
Graham Pink, David Drew….Rita Pal
speak out for what they believe in
to get thoroughly trounced
and I howl!
I’ve gone up the management ladder
to raise my concerns time by time…
So these poems are my very last option
to whistle blow here in bold rhyme.
Written warning
A word of wisdom in your ear…
‘You care too much!’ they said
Our job is ticking boxes
We are audit culture lead.
So take your fine ideas
You can protest in your head
Our job is ticking boxes
Initiative is dead.
Part of the union
When we asked for some support from the union,
we were bowled over when we were told
You must do as your managers tell you
And you’ll keep a job ‘til you’re old.
If they don’t want you to talk to the doctors
or log on their computers… OK.
It’s only about vulnerable patients
So not the management plan to this day.
and finally with thanks to the author who for obvious reasons has to remain anonymous….
Speaking up
If you are a doctor
they damn your career to hell.
And if you are a nurse
they discipline you if you tell.
But if you’re at the very bottom
the kicks and cuts are tough
from your erstwhile colleagues
when you are beaten up.
The suits who take the salaries
they really don’t want to know
as their next promotion
is where they are keen to go.
So don’t speak up for the patients
The vulnerable and the old
‘Cos when you work in healthcare
You should just do as you’re told.
Again my sincere thanks to the author of these verses. They capture so much, so well. I hope they get a wide readership.
And judging by the steady numbers of staff still contacting the www.suspension-nhs.org team, nothing has changed. Dire for us all, in every capacity.
Julie
Friday, 16 October 2015
Can people recover from suspension and other workplace bullying?
Is there any help anywhere? Read on……
‘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.
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.
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.
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.
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 http://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/jan/21/guardianobituaries.mainsection )
This year’s Memorial lecture is on Saturday, 7th November 2015 ‘Surviving Bullying at Work ‘
to be presented by Dr Keith Munday.
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.
Proceedings will start at 1.15pm, in the Sumpner Lecture Theatre, Floor 6, Main Building, Aston University, Birmingham, B4 7ET, UNITED KINGDOM
(15 minutes walk from New Street Station).
Email: annualtimfieldmemoriallecture@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AnnualTimFieldMemorialLecture
Hope you can make it.
With very best wishes for your own recovery journey
Julie
‘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.
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.
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.
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.
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 http://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/jan/21/guardianobituaries.mainsection )
This year’s Memorial lecture is on Saturday, 7th November 2015 ‘Surviving Bullying at Work ‘
to be presented by Dr Keith Munday.
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.
Proceedings will start at 1.15pm, in the Sumpner Lecture Theatre, Floor 6, Main Building, Aston University, Birmingham, B4 7ET, UNITED KINGDOM
(15 minutes walk from New Street Station).
Email: annualtimfieldmemoriallecture@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AnnualTimFieldMemorialLecture
Hope you can make it.
With very best wishes for your own recovery journey
Julie
Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Robert Francis report – sack malfunctioning managers
The 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.
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.
The Week publication (www.theweek.co.uk) 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.
One journalist reminded her readers of the terrible harm done to staff raising concerns about practices and conditions that subsequently cost patients’ lives.
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.
Sir Robert’s 20 recommendations are described as rather timid by one reporter who suggests that sacking bad managers would send a stronger message. 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.)
The final comment reported by Andrew Smith in the Guardian (www.theguardian.com ) describes the number, style and reward for managers as causing them to be distanced psychologically from the workforce, acting defensively when challenged or scrutinised. He suggested they are running the organisations for their own benefit.
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?
Taxpayers, wake up!
Julie
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.
The Week publication (www.theweek.co.uk) 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.
One journalist reminded her readers of the terrible harm done to staff raising concerns about practices and conditions that subsequently cost patients’ lives.
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.
Sir Robert’s 20 recommendations are described as rather timid by one reporter who suggests that sacking bad managers would send a stronger message. 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.)
The final comment reported by Andrew Smith in the Guardian (www.theguardian.com ) describes the number, style and reward for managers as causing them to be distanced psychologically from the workforce, acting defensively when challenged or scrutinised. He suggested they are running the organisations for their own benefit.
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?
Taxpayers, wake up!
Julie
Friday, 23 January 2015
Whistleblowing and psychological safety
‘The Psychologist’ 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’.
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.
That is so often a precursor to suspension for many of the people who contact www.suspension-nhs.org .
There is a substantial body of research into group processes Dr Wilde wrote, so that whistleblowing can be conceptualised as a ‘form of psychological martyrdom or suicide. For those who do not speak, it is experienced as a form of treachery, which has always been the last crime to have the death penalty removed’.
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.
Dr Wilde identifies predictors of low psychological safety including deficiencies in leadership behaviours and evidence of tolerance for bullying.
Again this strikes a chord and hopefully the research of the Working Party will provide further evidence to show that work needs to start at the other end of the process ie with the behaviours and accountability of managers, rather than threatening staff if they fail to raise concerns.
Thank you Dr Wilde. We wish you every success.
If you wish to contribute to Dr Wilde’s research, her email address is bpswhchair@gmail.com
She is also a member of the Founders’ Network,
‘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.
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. Taken from www.foundersnetwork.uk
Maybe, along with Patients First (www.patientsfirst.org.uk ) there is light at the end of the tunnel?
Yours hopefully
Julie
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.
That is so often a precursor to suspension for many of the people who contact www.suspension-nhs.org .
There is a substantial body of research into group processes Dr Wilde wrote, so that whistleblowing can be conceptualised as a ‘form of psychological martyrdom or suicide. For those who do not speak, it is experienced as a form of treachery, which has always been the last crime to have the death penalty removed’.
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.
Dr Wilde identifies predictors of low psychological safety including deficiencies in leadership behaviours and evidence of tolerance for bullying.
Again this strikes a chord and hopefully the research of the Working Party will provide further evidence to show that work needs to start at the other end of the process ie with the behaviours and accountability of managers, rather than threatening staff if they fail to raise concerns.
Thank you Dr Wilde. We wish you every success.
If you wish to contribute to Dr Wilde’s research, her email address is bpswhchair@gmail.com
She is also a member of the Founders’ Network,
‘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.
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. Taken from www.foundersnetwork.uk
Maybe, along with Patients First (www.patientsfirst.org.uk ) there is light at the end of the tunnel?
Yours hopefully
Julie
Friday, 3 October 2014
Poor managers v dynamic managers
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 (Nursing Times Staff Management article 24 9 14).
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.’
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.
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?
‘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.
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.
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.
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.
Gloomily yet again!
Julie
Thursday, 18 September 2014
Whistleblowing Inquiry by Sir Robert Francis and unaccountable managers – an impossible situation to resolve
I 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.
The Campaign Against Unnecessary Suspensions and Exclusions UK (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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Yours sadly
Julie
The Campaign Against Unnecessary Suspensions and Exclusions UK (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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Yours sadly
Julie
Saturday, 6 September 2014
The devastation of suspension and loss of employability
The devastation of suspension
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.
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.
Impact of Suspension
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.
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 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.
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.
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 was moved by the section of the NHS Suspension website which examines the effect on those close to the suspended employee - http://www.suspension-nhs.org/nhssuspensionquestionresults.htm - and impressed by the ‘Suggestions for Ways to Change the System’ which resulted from this report.
A Doctor’s Opinion
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.
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.
Can you help?
Yours hopefully
Julie
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.
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.
Impact of Suspension
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.
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 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.
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.
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 was moved by the section of the NHS Suspension website which examines the effect on those close to the suspended employee - http://www.suspension-nhs.org/nhssuspensionquestionresults.htm - and impressed by the ‘Suggestions for Ways to Change the System’ which resulted from this report.
A Doctor’s Opinion
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.
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.
Can you help?
Yours hopefully
Julie
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
Failing managers
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.
And there is that slow but relentless Nursing Times campaign to allow nurses to Speak Out Safely.
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.
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.
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.
What sort of response is that?
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Yours very sadly
Julie
And there is that slow but relentless Nursing Times campaign to allow nurses to Speak Out Safely.
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.
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.
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.
What sort of response is that?
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Yours very sadly
Julie
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