Home / Health / Whistleblower Wins £1.4m After "Sham Investigations"
Whistleblower Wins £1.4m After "Sham Investigations"
1 Feb
Summary
- Former CEO won £1.4m after unfair dismissal and bullying claims.
- She alleges NHS bosses conduct fake investigations into whistleblowers.
- Gilby claims patient safety is at risk due to silenced concerns.
Dr. Susan Gilby, a former NHS chief executive, has spoken out after receiving a £1.4 million payout for unfair dismissal and bullying. She alleges that some NHS bosses conduct "sham investigations" to suppress concerns raised by whistleblowers, thereby endangering patients.
Gilby's experience involved claims of bullying and harassment by the hospital board chair, Ian Haythornthwaite, and his associates. Tribunal judges found that they conspired to engineer her dismissal and deliberately deleted documents relevant to her legal action. Haythornthwaite has since resigned, and Gilby is considering a criminal complaint against him.
She described her ordeal as "traumatising" and isolating, making her feel like a "pariah" for refusing to drop her complaints. Gilby argues that whistleblower protections in the NHS are inadequate, leading to "patient safety incidents" going unreported and unlearned from. She advocates for stricter regulations for non-clinically trained senior managers to prevent such abuses and protect those who raise legitimate concerns.
