MPs call for doctors and nurses to “whistle blow”
26 July 2011
The Health Select Committee has stated that doctors and nurses should be required by their regulatory bodies to report malpractice on the part of colleagues.
Committee Chairman, Stephen Dorrell, stated that failure to do so should be regarded as a “serious breach of professional obligation” and that more should be done by the General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council to ensure that reports were made and that whistle-blowers were protected from disciplinary action from their employers.
The committee took the view that the GMC and NMC should send a clear signal to staff that failure to report concerns might put them as much at risk of investigation as poor practice on their own part.
The BBC reported on their News Health website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14281197) that Mr Dorrell had stated that “we regard the principle behind this wider obligation as an important safeguard for patients.”
He went on to say that “There have been examples of people raising concerns, and then facing inappropriate or heavy-handed action from their employer. We intend to follow up and to examine what is appropriate and what isn’t, in terms of how employers respond.”
More information regarding this story can be found on the BBC website.
