David Fillingham. Chief Executive to Ward 87, North Staffordshire NHS Trust

Covering Up Your Mistakes and Moving On

The important issue to understand about managers in the NHS is that there is no accountability for them. It is also true that managers are the reason doctors end up at the GMC. This was certainly the case for Mr Robert Phipps a whistleblower in Bradford.

I have a theory about managers. The more patients they kill, the more likely it is for them to gain an CBE. Of course, its not the Queens fault but more the Labour Party. Ward 87 was of course the legacy of the Labour government. There are many wards like it and the Labour Party is the arch Spinmeister General. They certainly were when it came to the issues surrounding Ward 87. You just have to review their internal documentation on me to discover this. Ward 87 is a legacy our government and further evidence that they like to cover the dirt up, cover the graves up so the gloss is set and no one in the future will pay any attention to what happened. That is of course what happened to Ward 87. While the world has been distracted with the dysfunctional msbp mothers screaming their innocence, people died on this Ward. The Labour Party as a government has thrown so much discrediting material against my name that it has ensured that people shy away from the truth. Well, no one would like to investigate the truth because for every journalist these issues are far too complex. My reputation has been tainted with various issues that the Labour Party thought up through Professor Griffiths. This is the average tactic against whistleblowers. No accusation deters from the fact that patients died and suffered on this Ward. That fact remains still in time.

In those days, the top dog of North Staffordshire NHS Trust was David Fillingham. David Fillingham knew all there was to know about Ward 87. He of course had no intention of doing a thing about it apart from attempt a cover up until the foundations of the Trust was shaken by the media. Then he did a quick fix investigation on minority data consisting of a small sample and left the wider data in their graves. For David Fillingham, quick fixes were good. He could damage control the situation and move on.

The BMJ states the following "

Fillingham developed his interest in managing change outside the NHS. After graduating in history at Cambridge University, he worked for Pilkingtons, the glass manufacturer, for eight years, first in personnel then in marketing, where he realised that "glass was very boring." So he joined the NHS in 1989 as the regional personnel manager of Mersey Regional Health Authority.

He then became chief executive of one of the new family health services authorities, which he enjoyed. He said: "Because most people in the NHS were fairly ignorant about primary care we were allowed a lot of freedom." When family health services authorities merged with health authorities he became chief executive of St Helen's and Knowsley Health Authority. He then became chief executive of North Staffordshire Hospital, until he joined the Modernisation Agency this July. He applied for the job because it drew together his interests in change and change management "and the people aspects that are often overlooked."

David Fillingham as predicted as given a CBE much like his cohort in coverups Professor Rod Griffiths.

This is what a website says about him "David Fillingham has been Chief Executive at Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust since September 2004. He joined the NHS in 1989 having previously worked in Personnel Management and Marketing positions with Pilkington Plc. After a short period at Mersey Regional Health Authority, David has occupied a number of Chief Executive positions – in Primary Care at Wirral FHSA from 1991 until 1993; in commissioning at St Helens & Knowsley HA from 1993 until 1997 and in acute hospital services at North Staffordshire Hospitals Trust from 1997 to 2001.

From 2001 to 2004 David was Director of the NHS Modernisation Agency responsible for developing new ways of working and promoting leadership development across the NHS as a whole. David is now relishing the challenge of putting that national experience in to practice back on the frontline of the NHS at Bolton. In particular he is deeply involved in applying “lean” principles to healthcare. David lives in St Helens in Lancashire. Other than the NHS his passions are watching his local rugby league team and spending time with his wife and two daughters"

So having failed thousands of patients in Stoke on Trent, he was promoted by the Labour government to teach everyone else around the NHS. Fillingham though did a good job of covering up and putting a lid on the serious problems that compromised patient care.

Fillingham in his hay day also attempted to instigate Professor Rod Griffiths into getting me in trouble with the GMC over medical data that I had exposed in the public' interest. Rod Griffiths and Fillingham feared so much that this patient data would strike right back at them. They would never be able to answer why there was no equipment on the ward that they finally decided against it and dropped their idea of referring me to the GMC. Infact, no one has been able to answer the basic question - why was there never any basic equipment on the ward? Fillingham will gloss over it of course. Having attempted to discredit me repeatedly, in the very end it is Mr Fillingham whose conduct comes into the spotlight. Because in the end he was Chief Executive of a malfunctioning Ward as established by the 1999 and 2001 Reports. Of course, no one will question it because he knows how to sweep up inconvenient dirt when it counts.

Fillingham tried his best to silence me. Infact, North Staffordshire NHS Trust still attempts to zip my mouth up with their empty legal threats but quite frankly I don't give a damn anymore, not about them and not about what they wanted to do to silence. I believe it is important for the future to create a transparent environment for North Staffordshire NHS Trust so that they can be scrutinised by the public with respect to accountability. No one was held accountable for mistakes made on Ward 87 North Staffordshire NHS Trust. As we can see David Fillingham moved onto bigger and better things. He buys smarter suits these days but he has a past he would like the world to forget.

The only accountability that exists for managers is really by exposure publicly. I also stand by what I have said against Mr Fillingham. I also state that he was the worst chief executive to grace North Staffordshire NHS Trust. Each comment can be verified by the documentation I have.

Despite the substandard care on this Ward, Fillingham was never disciplined. He was though given a CBE for his efforts. This is what I mean by management in the NHS. The more negligent you are, the better the chances are of getting a CBE.

We still ask David Fillingham why no patient death rates were kept and why so many people's lives had to be compromised for so many years. There are still no answers to these questions are there? If there was a corporate manslaughter investigation into North Staffordshire NHS Trust Ward 87, the blame would fall squarely on Mr Fillingham. Of course, there will never be such an investigation, not with the Labour government tightening the lid on Ward 87. Nails will always be placed on the Ward 87 coffin for fear that the hauntings may arise again just like it always does.

David Fillingham has worked in Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust since September 2004. Do they know about Ward 87 - I suspect not.