Ward 87: Calmer Seas and Chocolate

Thursday, 15 October 2009

Calmer Seas and Chocolate

Since my post yesterday, it is good to see the Doctors Only website is taking some action in terminating the harassment suffered by Dr Liz Miller at the hands of their posters.

Now, we all hope to have a nice calm weekend with ice-cream and chocolate. Should there be a reoccurrence of the usual cyberstalking harassing behaviour patterns then we all know what the deterrent to that is going to be. As for those on the Doctors Only website who are of the view that there is a conceptual misunderstanding. Yes, there is a conceptual misunderstanding because few read Good Medical Practice in detail and few read case law. If they did acquaint themselves with the booklet they would find that discussing confidential patient details on a doctors forum is a breach of confidentiality and being discriminatory towards those with mental health problems is a struckofable offence. Afterall, it was only a few months ago when a GP who wrote about his views in Pulse got suspended for 18 months. The problem with creating case law is that it can be implemented. And lets all face it, disclosure of ones cyberantics to ones employers by GMC Towers is never a pleasant experience. As the law stands, anything outside the medical profession capable of being misconduct is actionable by the GMC. Few people fought against this case law so it will be applied as it stands. Moreover, should anyone wish to research material on the internet, they may like to be aware that for the last 48 hours the GMC have been visiting this blog - no doubt interested in these antics by GMC Registered doctors. I do worry when the Dementors turn up. They are so unpredicatable towards naive doctors who post on forums. The GMC also admitted that they are able to take up issues without formal complaints [ see enclosure below]

I am sure those intelligent enough to understand these intricate concepts will accept the status quo. I prefer the calmer seas and chocolate to war but should Miller be harassed further, war will begin. And as many people are indeed aware, I don't bluster, I simply act. In the meantime, data has been collected, posters have been identified.

----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Ellen (

0161 923 6347

)
To: dr.ritapal@googlemail.com
Sent: Friday, May 01, 2009 11:24 AM
Subject: FOI requests

Dear Dr Pal

I refer to your e-mail of 6 April 2009 in which you raise a number of queries in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

xxxxxxxxx

You also ask for the numbers of fitness to practise cases taken up without formal complaints. From 1993 to date, a total of 575 enquiries have been opened on the basis of press cuttings. Some of these were closed without further investigation but, of those that weren’t, a total of 389 were investigated under our conduct procedures and 39 were investigated under our health procedures.

You have also asked about the Andrew Wakefield complaint. I can confirm that, in response to widespread public interest in the MMR issue, we instructed our solicitors to investigate further. This in turn led to action under our fitness to practise procedures. It has always been the case that the GMC has been able to act on information that raises a fitness to practise issue. This has not been restricted to the receipt of a complaint from an individual.

Finally, I can confirm that the employer details form is sent to doctors at the stage we initially disclose [fitness to practise] information that we are considering. On receipt of the completed form we disclose the matter to each employer and ask for further information which may be relevant.

I hope that this is helpful.

Regards

Mark Ellen

General Medical Council

St James Building, 79 Oxford Street, Manchester, M1 6FQ

Regents Place, 350 Euston Road, London, NW1 3JN

The Tun, 4 Jacksons Entry, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, EH8 8AE

Regus House, Falcon Drive, Cardiff Bay, CF10 4RU

20 Adelaide Street, Belfast, BT2 8GD

The GMC is a charity registered in England and Wales (1089278) and Scotland (SC037750)

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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.

Ward 87

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Thursday, 15 October 2009

Calmer Seas and Chocolate

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