Doctors who quit their jobs are being routinely forced to sign “gagging orders” despite legislation designed to protect whistleblowers in the National Health Service (NHS), Great Britain’s government-run health care system, says the Independent.
Millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money are being spent on contracts that deter doctors from speaking out about incompetence and mistakes in patient care. Nearly 90 per cent of severance agreements hammered out between NHS trusts and departing doctors contain confidentiality clauses, says the Independent.
According to a joint investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Channel 4 News:
The widespread use of “gagging orders” against senior NHS staff that could raise patient safety concerns will intensify the doubts over the protection given to whistleblowers, says the Independent.
Campaign groups claim that NHS managers sometimes resort to intimidating medics to keep them from coming forward, while others that break cover can face years of expense and uncertainty before their cases reach court. The result, they say, is that doctors accept the gagging clauses in order to protect their careers and avoid legal wrangling.
Using Freedom of Information (FoI) requests, it emerged that 71 NHS trusts had entered into these agreements with a total of 170 doctors, although the true figure could be higher, as many failed to respond:
Source: Nigel Morris, Millions spent on doctor ‘gagging orders’ by NHS, investigation finds, The Independent (UK), August 2, 2010.
For more on Health Issues: http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_Category=16
First published by the National Center for Policy Analysis, United States
FMF Policy Bulletin/ 10 August 2010
