Gagging clauses stop truth coming out about NHS patient safety
The British Medical Journal has accused an NHS trust of trying to impose a gagging clause on a consultant as part of a deal to terminate his employment. It is alleged that the deal is intended to prevent him speaking out about issues of patient safety.
The Liverpool Women's Foundation NHS Trust offered Peter Bousfield, a long-serving consultant, early retirement and a termination payment after failing to resolve complaints he had raised about staffing levels.
Gagging clauses in severance agreements are routine to prevent each party making derogatory comments about the other after the deal is signed. But they have been banned in the NHS where matters of public interest are involved under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.
Adrian Desmond a leading medical negligence lawyer from Reading based firm Boyes Turner said: "We are still far away from a position where we can rely on NHS managers to be honest and open about failings in the Service. Until that day comes, patients, their solicitors and others will have to be very determined to get to the truth when something goes wrong with their treatment"
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