Another NHS whistleblower attacked

 There’s another case of a hospital attacking a whistleblower.

Croydon University Hospital has hired a QC who charges between £4,000 and £5,000 a day to help appeal a tribunal’s verdict that it sacked a senior doctor for whistleblowing.

Figures obtained by the Advertiser show Croydon Health Services, the trust which runs the hospital, has already spent more than £130,000 on legal fees relating to Dr Kevin Beatt’s unfair dismissal claim.

The local MP and council leader want the hospital trust to think again. But why should they? If they lose – again – nothing bad will happen to them.

For sure they’ll have less money to spend on patients. That doesn’t seem to concern them. They lost at an employment tribunal and they seem determined to use public money to overwhelm the doctor.

Labour and Tory ministers have been overwhelmed by the NHS. Hospital managers take them on with impunity. The politicians wring their hands. The whistleblower is left to twist in the wind. The politicians wring their hands a little longer and then return to praising the NHS.

When will these wimps – supposedly in charge of the NHS – get a grip?

The Francis enquiry should give them an opening. If it doesn’t, they’ll have to – gulp – do something themselves.

Meanwhile, the NHS remains a fortress, where those in power can repel all attackers. Using our money.