Ward 87: NHSBLOGDOC. Dr John Crippen

Saturday, 20 March 2010

NHSBLOGDOC. Dr John Crippen

Crippen Retires

Of course, few people remember it but I was the first person to set up a blog/website related to radical medicine in the year 2001. Crippen came after me and we both ended up in the Times listings. Here they are

CYNICS’ WEBSITES: TOP FOUR

Quackwatch Witness the systematic destruction of some of the outrageous claims that are made by some alternative practitioners.

NHS Exposed Investigative website allegedly exposing dozens of abuses to staff and patients, and the cover-up campaigns to suppress the truth.

NHS Blog Doctor A doctor tells it how it really, really is.

The Skeptic’s Dictionary The alternative health section is informative, but very unconvincing.

At the time we beat Crippen to the post by coming in second.

Now Crippen has decided to retire and leave the blogsphere. He has decided to remove the flash template designed for him by the Devil. I am not really sure why Crippen had to take down his historical website but there we go. At least the GMC won't be creeping around downloading it. Crippen is to be credited as being one of the most influential grassroots bloggers this side of the century. He is also to be credited with exposing the injustices regarding the MMC.

Anyone looking on the internet will spot Crippen in the internet archives here. Crippen leaves two recommendations, one of Jobbing Doctor and one of Dr Grumble. I on the other hand am of the view that Badmed.net is the one who will ultimately take over from Dr Crippen. Despite being the new kid on the blog his writing is of a high standard, his wit matches that of Dr Crippen from the early days and his style and intelligence is probably more in tune to the current medico-political climate. The next one on my recommendation list is the most intelligent of all bloggers - The Witchdoctor. I believe that Badmedicine and Witchdoctor are instrumental in engaging the public in investigating medicine today.

All that is left is to wish Dr John Crippen the best of luck for the future. I should also thank him for supporting Ward 87 and recommend that he leave his blog as an archive at the British Library's Internet Project. All history is important.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...: http://www.webarchive.org.uk/ukwa/target/7503886/source/alpha

Dr Crippen has already been selected for preservation.; 21 March 2010 at 03:54

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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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Saturday, 20 March 2010

NHSBLOGDOC. Dr John Crippen

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