Alex Whitfield denies ever saying ” Martyn Pitman was a ” direct threat to patient safety”

Whistle blower consultant obstetrician Martyn Pitman made numerous attempts to get Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to independently investigate the allegations against him but was met with silence until he complained to the board , the tribunal was told yesterday.

The disclosures came out during the cross -examination of Alex Whitfield, the chief executive of the trust, by Jack Mitchell, the junior barrister from Old Square Chambers. Dr Pitman was dismissed by the trust for allegedly not being able to work with colleagues after he raised concerns about patient safety in the maternity wards at Royal Hampshire Hospital. The trust is arguing he is not a whistleblower in this case.

Alex Whitfield, a former oil refinery operating manager has been employed in managerial roles in the NHS since 2007. She was cross questioned in detail about how the terms of an independent inquiry were changed from one solely concentrating on his treatment by the trust after he had raised patient safety issues to much broader issues covering staff treatment.

Dr Pitman won the inquiry after complaining directly to a board member because no one else in management would take it up. It was passed to the chair of the board, Steve Erskine, a highly experienced Whitehall player and business development director who was keen for it to go ahead.

At the same time the trust was grappling with new guidance later turned into a directive from Baroness Harding, on how NHS staff should be treated by trusts in the aftermath of the suicide of nurse Amin Abdullah who burnt himself to death outside Kensington Palace after being unfairly treated and dismissed by his trust. Baroness Harding was then chair of NHS Improvement before her more infamous role in charge of test and trace during the Covid pandemic.

At the time the trust was not fully compliant with the directive but the chief executive insisted at the tribunal that the trust was compliant with part of directive that covered Dr Pitman’s case. She also vehemently denied Mr Mitchell’s claim that she hid the non compliance ” to save her own skin” from questions by the chair.

The tribunal was told however that she was behind the change in terms of the inquiry to make it much broader than Mr Pitman’s case. If it had remained solely with him, it would have put her close colleague, Dr Lara Alloway, at the centre of the investigation, who, as reported yesterday as Dr Pitman’s case worker, faced questions of conflict of interest and not minuting meetings.

The chief executive told the chairman that Dr Pitman would be able to appeal against any findings against him so would not lose out with a wider inquiry. But questioning from Jack Mitchell revealed this was not true. He would have been able to appeal if he had been found guilty of misconduct or lack of capability but because he went down the mediation route instead he had no right of appeal.

Mr Mitchell repeatedly argued that the trust had ” mapped out” a strategy to get rid of him at meetings – and also cited how the people director of the trust thought the best solution was to pay him off with a settlement. But Alex Whitfield insisted that they all wanted him to stay because he was such a good clinician and only wanted him to moderate his behaviour.

At the end of her cross examination she very strongly denied she had ever said that he had been sacked because he was a present danger to patients and the public. She insisted that she had never said that in discussions with Dr Lara Alloway.

Her denial sits oddly with Dr Lara Alloway’s evidence yesterday about the need for an extraordinary advisory meeting to discuss his future and complaints against him because they were worried about the risk to patient safety because of the toxic atmosphere with his relationship with some other staff.

And also the reason why Dr Pitman took ” special leave ” after he had a letter raising clinical issues does not fit with that. The hearing continues tomorrow.

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