Corporation NHS and The Gagging Clause.

Corporation NHS - This Ain't Gonna Happen 

There appears to be some great surprise that doctors would sign a gagging clause for money. My friend JR kindly sent me the following link.The Channel 4 investigation is here.

In the world of commercial corporate dealings [ which is essentially what the NHS is], of course they will offer payouts in exchanges for gagging clauses.  It is called good commercial law. The above is one example. Another example is litigation - the first thing a whistleblower also does is sue under PIDA, the first thing the Trust does is think about how much it will cost them to gag the whistleblower. If anyone has dealt with a Tomlin order, it is understood that the terms of a legal settlement will be confidential. Few men or women will want to be a poor pariah. So, if a pile of money comes along, most people won't see any harm. I would never sue under PIDA, its rough legislation that remains ineffective.

This was partly one of the reasons I did not sue North Staffordshire NHS Trust. It is about 100 percent cert that I would have won but the price of winning would be to be caught in the trials and tribulations of litigation and settlement. No doubt, North Staffordshire would love to pay me off in exchange for my silence but it ain't gonna happen. 

Anyhow, few whistleblowers want to be penniless survivors in a rough terrain where everyone hates you.  Whistleblowers end up heavily in debt due to legal fees, their family suffer, their life suffers so  they won't see any harm in accepting a barrel of money in exchange for principles.  I have never given a damn about these issues but it takes a person with strength of character to survive against all odds. I suppose I just disliked North Staffs enough never to give them the satisfaction of wearing me down in litigation. It was far more satisfying to rub their noses in it publicly.  In most doctors eyes, a payment in exchange for their silence is a pretty good deal. At least, they can be a rich pariah which is possibly better than being a poor one. 

This is commercial law. No one can blame the NHS for buying the silence of doctors. No one can blame the doctors for opting or a quiet life. There is no benefit to being a martyr at all  in a culture where skeletons remain in closets with the door shut for good. If Corporate NHS allowed whistleblowers to blow their secrets, they would be paying relatives and patients until the NHS is burnt to a pile of ash.The change that is needed is an alteration to the attitude and culture of Corporate NHS. While the Americans love and pay their whistleblowers for raising concerns, the UK defaults to its Victorian attitude of concealing everything until the world is dead.