Ward 87: Will the Real Dead Patients on Ward 87 Stand Up.

Monday, 22 September 2008

Will the Real Dead Patients on Ward 87 Stand Up.

Ward 87. Dead and Gone

I was sent a link to the BBC Video featured by Midlands Today.

An amusing video for many reasons. First it features Ward 87 in all its glory. You feel like saying to the editors of Midlands Today - hey - you have the wrong scandal guys- how about the hundreds of adult and elderly patients who died there on the acute ward?

The distorted video is interesting because it fails to mention the fact that the Attorney General cleared David Southall and the GMC have cleared David Southall not once but twice. Lets take a look at the list of inquiries instigated against David Southall. He has been cleared in all of them. bar one GMC appeal. I say this because I often compare this to the high death rate of Ward 87 during the period I whistleblew. No funds or inquiries were invested in that despite the findings of a final report on minority data which stipulated that the ward management was at fault.

So let us see the millions the government, the NHS and the GMC have spent on David Southall. Lets get another thing straight - David Southall was not responsible for hundreds of deaths. So, while these inquiries took place against him [ in paediatrics], in the Department of Medicine, Ward 87 was killing people. The deaths continued until 2005 when the ward was shut. No independent inquiry has ever taken place regarding these patients.

Investigations into Professor Southall over the last ten years
Year	Investigating Body	Issue
1998	North Staffordshire Hospital (NSH)	Wide-ranging complaint by Mrs Mellor
Leading to the following inquiries
1999	NSH, Dr Durbin, Prof McNeish	Research *
1999	NSH, Dr Voyce	Child Protection *
1999	NSH (internal)	Personal Conduct
1999	Midlands Health Consultancy Network On behalf of: West Midlands Regional Office, DoH Newborn Research
* resulted in suspension from hospital for 27 months while further inquiries pursued
1999-2000	West Midlands Regional Office	Griffiths Inquiry on Research
2000	NSH	Consent in newborn research
2000-1	NSH &Sir David Hull	Research **
2000-1	NSH &RCPCH Child Protection Experts	Child Protection **
** resulted in return to work
2000-1	Staffordshire Multi-agency Group	Research & Consent
2000 ongoing	GMC – to go to Hearing 2008?	Newborn Research
		(reviewed x3 by PPC & Appeal Court)
2000 ongoing	GMC investigations	Multiple complaints
2001	Fraud squad	Childhealth Advocacy International (CAI)
2001	Charities Commission	CAI
2001	Metropolitan Police	Child protection issues
2001	South Wales Police	Child protection issues
2004	GMC Hearing re: Clarke complaint	Informing child protection concerns
2005	Council for Healthcare	Review of GMC sanction Regulatory Excellence
2006	GMC Hearing (half heard)	Informing child protection concerns & record keeping
2007	Attorney General	Child protection and record keeping

These inquiries have been alongside numerous complaints (resulting in other minor inquiries) made by the same group of individuals to:

Research ethics committees who have passed research projects

Universities who have supported research

Editors of journals in which papers have been published

Conference organisers

Various police authorities

Politicians ***

Civil servants

Ministers in HM Government

Media organisations

*** Alongside the complaints against Professor Roy Meadow, this resulted in MPs of all political parties denying aspects of child abuse in the Houses of Parliament (2003-2004) and comparing Professor Southall to Josef Mengele (John Hemmings MP, 2006).

North Staffordshire NHS Trust spent millions, the GMC have spent millions resulting in a hike in GMC subscription funds. All the above complaints were coordinated by Penny Mellor . It is amusing to see a reputable broadcast company such as Midlands Today, taking the word of a ex criminal whom Judge Whitburn termed a "liar". Very credible. We must not of course forget the forensic psychiatrist report related to her. So lets see, Midlands Today gets a ex criminal to comment on a man who has not been convicted :)> . Her journalist friend Brian Morgan will have come across the issue of patient death. Having mocked the dead on Ward 87, he may change is opinion in the future.

Not an ounce of these funds were ever investigated in an independent broader data study of Ward 87 - a place that adults died. Thousands died unnecessarily. The media still talks of David Southall despite a failure to make any charge stick. So while we are thinking about dissing David Southall - let us just spare a small thought for the thousands of patients who died on Ward 87 when it was an acute admissions ward- the deaths that remain uninvestigated. These deaths had nothing to do with David Southall. These deaths had something to do with David Filligham [ still working as a Chief Executive in a different hospital]. Dr Monica Spitieri [ still working as a Professor], Dr John Green [ still working in private practice]. We must not mention the fact that the GMC threw the complaints out following the 2005 report into Ward 87 citing "out of time". While doing so, they took an out of time complaint RE Mrs M [Against David Southall] to hearing in December 2007.

Perhaps it is time the GMC caught the right doctors now :). Of course, the other more entertaining sentence of the reporter is that the " GMC is In a Mess". Too right, just that the public or the doctors simply don't know the true extent of the mess. They are currently considering the flawed audit by Professor Griffiths at Rule 12 for the third time.

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About The Author

There is a lot of things most people can say about me but in reality I am NHS Whistleblower. In 1998, I followed the guidance set out in Good Medical Practice[GMC] and raised concerns about substandard care on Ward 87 North Staffordshire NHS Trust. I also raised concerns about the large number of Midlands Hospitals covered by West Midlands NHS Executive in 1999. Following the recordings of the HSMR scores, only Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust spiked their figures. This was due to the inordinately high death rates. These deaths could have been prevented had the government acted in 1999. There are many other hospitals with equally high death rates but 1000s have not raised the HSMR scores. The Mid Staffordshire Inquiry shows poor standards that are similar to many hospitals in the Midlands [particularly Distinct General Hospitals]. They were also the identical to the concerns raised by me in 1999, many years before.

In 2010 the CQC finally admitted that North Staffordshire had "significantly high mortality" in the years I raised concerns.

This blog follows my adventures as a whistleblower. It was written between 2008-2010. It seeks to present what the media have never done. I also aim to discuss a number of medical issues important in the NHS today. A short account of my experiences is presented here.

Essentially, I raised concerns in 1998, locally then to all the authorities, the GMC, Department of Health and Trust attempted to say there was no substance to my concerns. In 2005, I discovered that all authorities had concealed the 1998 and 2001 internal reports that verified my concerns. This is a brief step by step summary of the events related to Ward 87.

Between 2000-2002, the General Medical Council conducted a "discreet inquiry" into my Fitness to Practice. I was never told of this investigation until I discovered quite by accident following a subject access request under the Data Protection Act 1998. The GMC were subjected to litigation by me due to the illegal investigation and repeated leaks of prejudicial information to potential employers. They were beaten in court following the first litigation of its kind. The GMC settled the case in favour of me. During litigation, the GMC subjected me quite severe harassment by revolving door vexatious complaints - 2 in total. I was cleared of all of them. I was never subjected to any Fitness to Practise hearings. All complaints were thrown out at case examiner's stage despite the GMC's malevolent intentions.

The GMC subsequently erased me from the Register for non payment of subscription fees. It should be emphasized that I was never sanctioned or struck off has speculated by some bloggers. In total, I have been subjected to 4 years of complaints that had no relation to my clinical work. This has had catastrophic consequences to my work as a doctor and eventually caused the assassination of my references in 2007.

This led to the test case R v General Medical Council Ex Parte Pal with the intention of defining the definition of potential misconduct and preventing vexatious complaints against doctors. The complaints were made by Penny Mellor and her associate Fiona Wollard [ niece of Professor Sir Charles George].

While permission was granted by a judge with Employment Law experience, the final hearing was lost courtesy of Justice Sir Andrew Collins who made various statements. One was that the GMC was free to rule differently on two separate cases with exactly the same facts and the other was to widen the analysis of misconduct to include conduct outside the profession. Justice Sir Andrew Collins has sat on numerous cases related to the GMC. He has often failed to declare that his brother Dr Mark Collins was once prosecuted by the GMC for alliances in Clapham Common. Details of this can be read here.

The two diametrically opposite analysis of misconduct was also discovered following the GMC's submission to R v General Medical Council Ex Parte Remedy UK. Essentially, one analysis appears to be used for some foreign doctors and a different more lenient definition is used for establishment doctors such as Liam Donaldson. The GMC were essentially caught red handed touting two different analysis of misconduct in two cases. This discrepancy is currently being investigated by both the CHRE and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The defenses to all these cases have taken up 52 files. By comparison, the GMC refused to investigate the doctors on Ward 87 despite the fact that their conduct was directly related to clinical work. They continue to work in various positions in the UK. No one was held accountable despite 2 reports verifying my concerns. Moreover, the Health Commission refused to conduct a broader data study in relation to the Ward 87. The GMC and Ombudsman refused to inform the patients on the Ward of the 1998 and 2001 Reports. The Sentinel newspapers refused to feature a legitimate advert.

In 2009, after discussion with Dr Phil Hammond, he wrote an excellent piece in Private Eye. While the media have provided little or no support for these issues, I am indebted to my fellow bloggers - Dr Rant, The Jobbing Doctor, Dr John Crippen and Witchdoctor. This blog exists to protect other doctors who I hope will never tread the path of whistleblowing. It is a path paved with injustice. It also serves to show the public that they cannot legitimately expect doctors to raise concerns in such a dangerous terrain. This indeed places patient safety in great jeopardy.

This blog ended in February 2010 as it was unlikely that I would ever return to medicine. I have also decided to end this particular saga here. I hope this blog will educate, entertain and remind the public that whistleblowing is a dangerous escapade and no junior doctor has treaded the same path as I have for a reason. The terrain is unsafe and always has been. I would say that I have been relatively unsupported in my journey through whistleblowing but singlehandedly I have been able to undercover evidence and establish some very important issues regarding the dangers of whistleblowing. I have ceased to respond to the media but I am always very happy to discuss matters with the public.

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Monday, 22 September 2008

Will the Real Dead Patients on Ward 87 Stand Up.

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