NHS Apologises To West London Mental Health Whistleblower

The UK’s most prominent mental health trust has been made to admit fault in regards to the treatment of a whistleblower who made claims about bullying and harassment within the trust. The NHS trust has now acknowledged that the whistleblower’s claims were made in good faith and in the interest of the public.

Dr Hayley Dare spoke out about a culture of bullying and harassment occurring across 32 institutions within the control of the West London Mental Health NHS Trust, at locations including Broadmoor high-security hospital. The claims were dismissed and even ridiculed by NHS bosses when making her claims in 2013.

Following a conversation with trust trust officials Dr Dare was referred to as a “very disturbed woman” by then chief executive Mr Steve Shrubb, who then compared her to his ex-wife; rhetoric intended to undermine her both professionally and personally. At the recent Tribunal hearing Mr Shrubb finally apologised for his comments.

A total of £130,000 was spent by the NHS in its refuting the claims made by Dr Dare despite the trust acknowledging a history of serious issues relating to bullying and harassment existing at its facilities.

Official NHS staff surveys issued in 2012 and 2013 show that out of the 51 NHS mental health trusts, West London has the poorest records in regards to violence against staff by both patients and colleagues. This includes nearly a twelfth of all employees experiencing a case of physical violence by one of their peers. Futher results showed that 30% of staff were bullied or harassed in some way during 2013 alone, with 26% of these cases involving discriminative behaviour.

Dr Dare lost her employment tribunal case last September due to a legal technicality which prevented her claims from being considered in good faith. However, this technicality has since been removed from UK employment law.

After the initial ruling in September 2014, the NHS sought back costs in access of £100,000 from Dr Dare which she fought against this and won at the November 6th tribunal. The result of this has required the trust to admit that Dr Dare “made a disclosure in the public interest about the bullying and harassment of the staff of the [trust] and that this disclosure was made in good faith”. The trust also paid Dr Dare £10,000 for financial costs she accrued during her legal struggle.

Speaking about her relief at the tribunal verdict, Dr Dare said:

“I can’t quite express how overwhelmed I feel. This has always been about patient care and staff welfare, which is what whistleblowing should always be about. I never deviated from that so I feel exonerated at last. The trust has spent an obscene amount of taxpayers’ money fighting me. I never acted in bad faith and that was what the case was all about. This has always been about my integrity and the fact that I raised concerns about patient care as a clinician. If you bully staff, patient care will be affected.”

Dr Dare expressed hope that the result of the case will lead to other employees feeling confident enough to speak out about corruption within the NHS. There are currently 3,160 staff working in the West London Mental Health NHS Trust, with approximately 700,000 people being cared for.

Although the trust admitted Dr Dare’ acted in good faith it stopped short of offering her a full apology, instead claiming that it has a “number of ways in which staff can raise concerns safely” that she could have taken advantage of.