New campaign: Time to change a prejudicial and unfair employment tribunal system

Posted on March 22, 2022 by davidhencke

Sir Keith Lindblom Senior President of the Tribunals Pic credit: gov.uk

This week sees the launch of a campaign by doctors, whistleblowers, journalists and members of the public to seek a big change in the way the employment tribunal system works.

It follows a series of judgements against whistleblowers – some have been carried on this blog- where the judgement itself ignores or twists facts and where the whistleblower – often but not always a litigant in person – has to defend himself or herself against big battalion lawyers brought in by employers.

Many of the cases involve issues like hospital and patient safety, bullying, harassment, racial and sex discrimination where a claimant is sacked for suggesting anything has gone wrong rather than the issue being sorted.

Worse some of most egregious offenders are in the public sector. They are the hospital and trust bosses, the management of Sellafield and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and Greater Manchester Police to name a few current examples. They spend millions of pounds on expensive barristers and solicitors fees all funded with your money – the taxpayer – rather than using your money to correct the problem.

They then go and try and bankrupt whistleblowers or drive them into abandoning their case by putting in six figure cost claims against them. Or use taxpayer’s money to give them six figure pay offs in return for a non disclosure agreement.

Judge Barry Clarke, President of the Employment Tribunals of England and Wales

All this is presided over by the judges who have a whip hand – they don’t record the proceedings or keep transcripts. They keep notes but they are for their private use and you cannot get them -even through a subject access request.

The only public record is their judgement – and if it misses out some of the evidence – there is no record that the evidence was ever given to the tribunal. And you cannot make a recording of the hearing – that is a criminal offence. Employers with more resources can employ their own note-takers – very useful if it goes to appeal and their lawyers won’t share their transcripts with the claimant.

The only safeguard is mainstream media which might report the hearing – though even then some employers try to get some of their evidence held in camera. But with the parlous state of the media , especially local media, journalists are rarely there.

Judge Shona Simon; President of the Scottish Employment Service

That is why the campaign has begun with a letter to the three top employment judges in the UK – Sir Keith Lindblom; Judge Barry Clarke and Judge Shona Simon, seeking a fundamental change to facilitate open justice- that transcripts of the proceedings of employment tribunals should be kept. The letter argues that the principle of a fair trial – enshrined by the European Court of Human Rights – cannot take place if only one side can afford to keep a record. It gives the employer a permanent advantage.

The decision to write the letter was taken at a meeting of Justice for Patients and Doctors – but supported by other whistleblowers who are not in the NHS.

With the help of my journalist colleague Philip Whiteley, Sellafield whistleblower Alison McDermott, cardiologist whistleblower Usha Prasad and junior doctor whistleblower Dr Chris Day,, the letter was circulated on social media.

Within just seven days we had backing from well over 300 people – from a former economic adviser to No Ten Downing Street, Sir Adam Ridley, 80 medical consultants, numerous GPs, nurses, teachers, to a former deputy groundsman at the Chelsea Pensioners hospital, a lorry driver, an actor, writer and a poet. This seems to suggest there is a wide ranging feeling that there is something wrong in the justice system.

This is the roll call of honour:

Sir Adam Ridley former Downing Street adviser and economics adviser to Nigel Lawson and Sir Geoffrey Howe
Jane Somerville, Emeritus Professor of Cardiology, Imperial College
David E Ward, former cardiology consultant, St George’s Hospital, London
Michael Byram Professor Emeritus University of Durham
Dr Philip Howard MA G Dip Law LLM MA MD FRCP Consultant Physician and Gastroenterologist
Prof Brendan T Barrett Dip Optom Bsc Psychol PhD MCOptom FAOI FHEA
Gautam Appa Emeritus Professor of OR Dept of Management, LSE
Dr Chris Day, Emergency Medicine Doctor A&E Agency
Dr Usha Prasad MBChB FRCP FESC Former Consultant Cardiologist and Lead Clinician for Heart Failure Epsom & St Helier University Hospital; Currently Locum Consultant Cardiologist at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Dr Arun Baksi, Emeritus consultant physician
Dr Michael Eden, consultant pathologist
Susan Burell, consultant sonographer/ radiographer
Dr Louella Vaughan, Consultant Physician in Acute Medicine
Dr Kit Byatt, retired consultant geriatrician now working in human rights medicine
Dr Ravi M Kare Consultant Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals
Dr Paul Garrud Hon. Associate Professor, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Nottingham
Dr Margaret Beedie Retired consultant psychiatrist
Dr Susan Read MBE, FRCN. Retired Professor of Nursing Research at Sheffield University.
Craig Jerwood MBBS, FRCA, FFICM Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine
Dr Chantal Meystre MB ChB MA FRCP UKCP Palliative Medicine Consultant and Integrative Psychotherapist
Thomas R. Lee, MB, BChir, FRCP, MRCPC retired Paediatrician
Dr Jenefer Sargent Consultant Paediatrician
Dr Catriona Connolly MBBS FRCA Consultant Anaesthetist
Julia Bodle Consultant obstetrician
Lesley Pavincich Consultant Psychotherapist
Dr Rakesh Aga FRCP, Consultant Gastroenterologist, Nobles Hospital Isle of Man
Shona M Hamilton Consultant Obstetrician (Retd) BSc, MB ChB, LLB, PGCert, MPhil FRCOG
Dr Nancy Redfern Consultant Anaesthetist.
Dr Katharine McDevitt, MBBS, MRCPCH, FRACP, Consultant Paediatrician Peterborough City Hospital
John A Hamilton FRCS Edinburgh & Glasgow Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon (Retd.)
Dr D S Wijayatilake Consultant Intensive Care Medicine Queens Hospital Romford
Milap Rughani Consultant Plastic Surgeon
Dr Hugo Farne Respiratory Consultant, Imperial College London
Eleni Gounari Paediatric consultant
Therese Walsh Anaesthesia Fellow
Mr Ismail Hassan Consultant Obs. & Gynae Birmingham Women & Children Hospital
Dr Sarwat Shah Locum Consultant Dermatologist
Mark J Curtis MBBS FRCS (Ed) FRCS (Eng) MFSEM (UK), Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon
Jacqueline Anne Henshall Head of Private Patients (recently retired) Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
Matthew Welberry Smith Consultant Renal Transplant Physician
Dr M Senaratne Consultant Psychiatrist
Nasser Kurdy Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon
Edwin Jesudason, Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine Scotland
Dr Arshad Siddique Consultant Psychiatrist
Francis Sheehy Skeffington Retired Consultant Paediatrician
Val Kyle, retired Consultant Rheumatologist
Dr Neil Finer, Consultant Ophthalmologist
Salam Alsam NHS Consultant
Dr Kim E Isaacs FRACS Consultant Surgeon | Surgical Oncology General Surgery | St Vincent’s Hospital, Australia
Mr John Davies Consultant surgeon Whipps Cross Hospital
David Church, Locum GP, Wales, and currently also Consultant Support to North Wales Regional Hub of Test, Trace, Protect
Keith Baxby Retired consultant surgeon. Dundee
Dr Sean Whyte Consultant Psychiatrist & Deputy Medical Director
Dr John Cøoper Consultant cardiologist
Aprajit Bhalla Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon
Dilshad Marikar Paediatric Consultant West Suffolk Hospital
Dr Carolyn Ruth Broadbent, recently-retired Consultant Anaesthetist, Royal Derby Hospital
Dr Philip Timms Consultant Psychiatrist, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust
Dr Katherine Pendry Consultant Haematologist (retired)
Dr Jenny Jenkins Retired Consultant Anaesthetist
Mr Basavaraj Sreeshyla, consultant ENT surgeon
Dr Jonathan Taylor, consultant in emergency medicine
Dr Subramanian Narayanan, consultant radiologist
Dr Deb Lee, consultant paediatrician
Dr Peter Sheppard. Consultant radiologist
Dr Sheena Pinion, former consultant obstetrician Kirkcaldy Scotland
Iain Muir Consultant Surgeon Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infirmary
Dr John Baksi, consultant cardiologist
Dr Bettina Harms, consultant paediatrician
Professor Parag Singhal, consultant endocrinologist
Dr Christopher Moulton, Consultant in emergency medicine
Dr Colin Hutchinson. Consultant Ophthalmologist
Mr Amit Sinha, consultant Orthopaedic surgeon
Dr Chriam George, consultant radiologist
Dr Venugopal Poothirikovil, consultant paediatrician
Miss Helen Fernandes, consultant neurosurgeon
Mr Radhakrishna Shanbhag, Consultant in Trauma
Dr Anil Jain, consultant radiologist
Mr Omer Karim MB BS, MS, FRCSUrol, Locum Consultant Urological Surgeon, Royal Marsden and Charing Cross Hospitals
Dr Azhar Ansari MBChB DM PhD FRCP
Dr Tariq Choudhry. Locum Consultant Psychiatrist Barnet Enfield and Haringey NHS Trust
Dr Amit Mukherjee, Consultant Psychiatrist, London
Roger Gartland actor
Dr Ana Martinez Nahorro, Consultant cardiologist
Kevin Donovan, secretary, Defend Our NHS
Brian Howard Thompson Retired BT Divisional Director
Dr Malila Noone, Microbiologist
DR Sunil Saxena, Anaesthetist
Dr Naila Aslam, medical advisor.
Dr Suma Basavaraj, general practitioner
Dr Nishant Joshi, GP
Mr Alexander Phillips, Research Director
Dr David Mark Thornton, Senior partner, Richmond Medical Centre, Lincoln
Dr James Wilson Haematology SpR
Dr Katie Brooks, Principal Medical Writer
Colin Padgett, Teacher, tutor and examiner
Brian Morris Retired
Dr Yasar Sabir Anatomy Fellow, University of Birmingham
Ingrid Broad, Retired, previously MCSP, AACP
Gordon Drummond Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer Department of Anaesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh
Dr Rebekah Cutler General Practitioner
Jonathan Mackay MB ChB retired GP
Keith Baker retired GP Trainer
Moya Duffy retired GP
Stephen Taylor IT Engineer retired
Dr Heechan Kang Locum Senior Clinical Fellow/Specialist Registrar in Paediatric Cardiology
John Bugler, retired
Jan Marriott Registered General Nurse retired
Judith Joy Member of the public
Ian Talbot Process Operator
Alan Ribot-Smith Retired Crypto Security Consultant
Leonard Rouse, retired high school teacher
Denise Cheetham local authority employee
David Mousley
Dr C C Hulbert Retired
Nigel Morris Civil Servant NI – Electricity Network Policy
Rosalyn Anderson Retired senior pharmacist NHS
Dr Michael Trowbridge GP
Dr Fionnuala Kelly Orthopaedics Registrar Gold Coast University Hospital, Australia.
Eamonn Rafferty
Dr Cate Bulmer, GP trainee, NHS Education Scotland
Patricia Lawlor, Lawyer and Vice-Chair of Whitestone Patient Participation Group
Sinead Summers nurse at Shooting Star Children’s Hospices, Guildford
Dr Ian Cocks GP retired
David Buglass Translater
Cllr Dr Hannah Charlotte Copley Clinical Research Training Fellow, University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge
Charles Bockett-Pugh retired engineer
Glanville Neale Retired
Tracy Nelms Registered General Nurse (Community/General Practice
Brian Smart, retired Chartered Surveyor
Robert Knowles, Retired maintenance engineer
Catherine Hills Retired
Emma Tyson ST4 Anaesthetics St Georges Hospital
Dr Ibironke Tayo ST4 O&G RCOG EOE ePortfolio champion
Denise Wentworth Retired Nurse Practitioner
Brian Wedge Retired
John Harwood Ex telecommunications fitter
Gerard Murphy MB BCh FRCP(Edin) MRCGP MICGP DPD(UWCM),Retired General Practitioner, Lisburn, Co. Antrim.
Dr Nigel Speight Paediatrician (and Guardian reader) DurhamNeil Purcell – Lighting Cameraman
Ravinder Passi whistleblower
Dr Nick Mann, GP in LondonDr Derek Jones Associate Senior Researcher Italian National Research Council (CNR)Bologna, Italy
Dr John Calvert, retired NHS General Practitioner
Dr Krishnaveni padala Gpst3
Thomas Clother Lorry Driver
Christine Joachim Retired Social Worker
Una-Jane Winfield Researcher and campaigner
Joanne Rossouw – Barclays Bank whistleblower
Bob McClenning Retired, Liberal Democrat activist
Oliver Darlington retired lecturer in MIcrobial Genetics
Dr Sara MacDermott, GP
Roger Bilham retired metallurgist
Dr Mary O’Gorman
Patricia Browne, Retired Care Manager
Dr Anya Gopfert Public Health Registrar
Russell Dunkeld Retired Registered General Nurse
Judith King Retired GP
Naomi R. Bowen, Retired Parish Clerk.
Roger Lallemant, retired construction worker
Ms S Murgraff Member of the Public
Dr Kerry Orchard Specialty Doctor in Palliative Care
Patrick Kirkby Retired
Ian Leonard Owner – Leonard Projects Consultancy (Telecommunications)
Penelope Burton Retired GP
Sally Hart
Jessica Harris GP Partner
Marian Davies Retired civil servant
Wendy Horler Retired NHS worker
Jamal Siddiqi member of the public
Dr Yok Fun Chang Retired GP
Andrew Pearce Learning & Teaching Quality Manager
Siobhan Coleman Retired.
Revd Judith Palmer- GP before ordination
Dr Jason Holdcroft-Long Specialist registrar in old age psychiatry
Abelardo Clariana-Piga -member of the public
Michael Young – retired broadcast media journalist.
Alison McDermott, BSc Hons, FCIPD. HR Consultant
Ashley Borkett IT Systems Engineer
KJ Swainson Retired Registered Nurse
Nina Basey-Fisher, Sales Consultant
Gillian Kirk member of the public
Dr Nisha Bhudia ST7 in anaesthesia.
Dr Mary-Clare Parker, GP
Dr Gurdave Gill General Practitioner
Dr Charles McEvoy, GP partner, Ripon
Dr Alison Barnes Locum GP St Richard’s Hospital Chichester
Stuart Dixon Retired NHS worker Author of Toxic Lives
Christine Aram Retired Midwife
Mike Darbyshire Trustee of the Bowles Rocks Trust
Chris Cowsley Retired Professional
Sheila Hedges Retired
Irene Leonard
Dr Winifred Stack
General Practitioner Newcastle upon Tyne.
Michael J Tynen Retired College Lecturer
Angus Bearn Company director
Harry McAulay Retired Schoolmaster
Dr Andrew Muirhead-Smith ST6 Intensive Care & Anaesthesia
Shuna Watkinson Retired nurse
Joanna Lane CEO of the charity Christopher Lane Trust.
Martin Heaps, Data Security Analyst.
David Collett, retired
Dr Alexander Stockdale NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer in Infectious Diseases University of Liverpool
Rev Dr Judith Gretton-Dann Church of England priest
Dr Tiago Ivo General Practitioner
Derek Medhurst retired coach and assessor on organisations
Harry Smart, writer and poet
Maureen A Vilar retired teacher at Portsmouth City Council.
Jackie Morgan retired union official
Mary Lester RGN, BA(Hons) Specialist Community Nursing, wound care nurse
Garry Dring – Registered Nurse Senior Clinical Advisor, North East Ambulance Service
Julia Mountain Retired
Sunil Kapur Teaching Assistant
Carol Lindsay Smith. www.Patients4NHS.org.uk
Ms Mary Morrison retired Uni SL in Language in Education
Karen Clark mother to two hospital doctors
Sandra Ash retired art tutor
Justin Dennis Deputy grounds and gardens manager Royal Hospital Chelsea
Carolyn Hupton retired
Dr Peter Sinclair Whitehead GP Harrogate District Hospital Foundation Trust
Margaret E. Johnson member of the public
Dr Jennifer Adams Mb ChB MRCGP retired
Philip Tucker Retired
Jennifer Hall Health Visitor
Mrs Sue Fuller retired social worker
Dr Tom McNaughton, specialist registrar
Dr Philip Delbridge Doctor (Middle Grade) – Emergency Medicine
Nicholas Ellam Project Manager (retired)
Linda Walker NHS employee
Janet Thompson Retired State Registered Nurse
Ruth Barker Retired GP
Rosemary Clarke Retired Solicitor
Jo Reynolds Member of the public
Dr Naomi Beer GP East London
Graham Pearson – Engineer retired
Carin Parker – Solicitor retired
Mary-Louise Stewart Member of the Public
Dr Ankush Dhariwal Doctor in Infectious Diseases and Microbiology
Dr David Sillince Retired GP
Marc Woodman Junior Doctor
Dr Andrew McArdle MRCPCH MSc MA Clinical Research Training Fellow, Imperial College London
Naomi Adelson, GP
Saad Chowdhury GP VTS Registrar (junior doctor)
Dr David Miles GP with a Special Interest in Addictions SE & NE Recovery Hubs
Saleha Jamali Member of the Public
Rebecca Winsor D.O. Registered Osteopath
Jonathan Gurr Retired General Practitioner
Matt Sheehy GP Derby
Tracy Mason Court reporter
Nigel Midgley – Operations Manager
Ilkay Cetin Tranlator
Hilary Beavan Company director
Rachel Nicolle, FwSS, self-employed Shiatsu practitioner
Jill Stevens Retired Journalist
Dr Mark N. Upton GP Tutor, Hull York Medical School
John Thain Ex-Nurse and Retired Nurse Lecturer
Dr Venetia Fawcett Retired GP
Ashley Borkett IT system engineer
Robert Wyatt Retired head teacher
Dr Peter Tyerman Board member Autism Plus
Dr Cara Hughes BM MSc FRCA Anaesthetic Trainee ST6 West of Scotland Deanery
Karl Connor Head of Communications and Community Engagement,
Dr Manuela Perry Specialty doctor in Psychiatry
Pamela Cross GP
Dr Marion Judd PhD
Rob Wheatley CTO – Watson Wheatley Financial System
Clio Bellenis Retired child and adolescent psychiatrist
Andrew Fitchett Locum GP
Dr Lucy Dobson MRCOG Clinical Research Fellow in Gynaecological Oncology
Julie O’Neil Libraries Services Manager
John Graveling – Retired.
Gillian Tennent Retired teacher
Susan Brown Retired Librarian
Dr William Loveday ST5 Psychiatric Registrar
Dr Jennifer Burgess (she/her) General Adult Psychiatry ST4 BA(Oxon), MBBS, MRCPsych
Anthony Scratchley Counsellor
Mark Pearse , retired farmer
Dr Anna Passmore, locum GP Bedfordshire
Rev Jeffrey I Smith Methodist Minister (retired)
Jennifer McIntyre-McClure Retired Occupational Therapist
Alexander McClure Retired nurse
Dr Helen Parkinson GP
Karen Blakey: Researcher/Whistleblower in the Academic domain
Kevin Ferguson IT Service Manager
Hugh Wilkins Clinical Scientist
Andrew Burd,
MB ChB, FRCS(Ed), MD, PhD Director: Second Opinion (Medico/Legal) HK International Limited
Janet Marks member of the Public
Debby Monkhouse CBT Therapist
Richard Slaughter Retired Librarian
Mrs. Carolyn Munro retired Medical Education Manager
Dr Peter Mercer PhD not medical doctor retired university lecturer
David Squires, Definitive Map Review Officer, Nottinghamshire County Council
Ms Shirley Murgraff member of the public
Kathleen White, Retired Nurse
Judith Lea Retired
Julia Herod retired Social Worker
Philip Whiteley, freelance journalist
David Hencke, freelance journalist
Amrit Wilson, Writer and Journalist
Dr Esha Sarkar Junior Doctor Whistleblower
Jenny Vaughan vice chair Doctors’ Association UK
Neesha Hall member of the public
Niccola Swan, retired Barclays regional director and former magistrate
Dr Frances E Atkins MB ChB MRCGP
Dr Ian McDermott MB ChB Leeds Community Health NHS Trust
Staffordshire GP
Terje Vangen Schea Fundraising Director
Jill Church Managing Director Angels Healthcare Ltd
Jill Hodsman, Children’s Nurse Specialist
Sheena Reid – Talent Dynamics Ltd ICF Master Certified Coach
Frank Reid FCA chartered accountant
Name Denise Chisholm Paediatric Specialist Nurse
Roger A Coleman, Radiological Safety Technician, Sellafield Ltd
Oliver New Secretary, Ealing Trades Union Council
Sylvia Chandler (retired GP)
Ann Barrett MSc, MCOptom, DipGlauc, DipTP (IP)
Andrew Burd, MB ChB, FRCS(Ed), MD, PhD Director: Second Opinion (Medico/Legal) HK International Limited

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Guest blog: The appalling treatment of NHS whistleblowers parallels the Post Office sub-post masters scandal

Posted on March 15, 2022 by davidhencke

David E Ward, a distinguished retired cardiologist, formerly at St George’s Hospital, South London, responds to the judgement by Tony Hyams-Parish on the case of Dr Usha Prasad

The treatment of NHS whistleblowers is a national scandal of the same iniquitous order of magnitude as the miscarriages of justice meted out to the sub-postmasters. This latter saga began 20 years ago after the installation of faulty software called Horizon from Fujitsu. Incredibly it was not picked up for years because the victims were not believed or they were accused of lying. The evidence was not properly collated or scrutinised. Or was it, but no-one said anything. “No other post office has had this problem” they were told. Perhaps the current Judge led inquiry will find out. Many were incarcerated. Some sold their homes to pay thousands of pounds of fictitious till deficits. Sadly, some committed suicide.

The sequence of events for NHS whistleblowers is different but the outcomes are strikingly similar. The NHS whistleblowers’ stories are largely unknown to the wider public apart from the occasional one featured in a national newspaper.

The WB raises a concern, which by the way is their duty under law, (Duty of Candour, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2014/9780111117613)

but instead of welcoming the exposure of the defect of a system (e.g. number of beds in a limited space), faulty equipment (e.g. a diagnostic machine) or a process (e.g. errors in admission procedures – wrong patient or wrong procedure) any of which may lead to patient harm or even death), the Trust fails to act but instead embarks upon a path of vicious and disproportionate reprisals against the WB.

The consequence of this chain of events is often catastrophic for the individual. The whistleblowing doctor may be subjected to repeated internal hearings, quasi-disciplinary proceedings, Maintaining High Professional Standards hearings etc. The latter may be chaired by lay persons with a legal qualification but posing as a barrister. Most doctors subject themselves (they raise an appeal) to an Employment Tribunal in the hope that justice will prevail. Sadly it does not. These proceedings are not formally recorded for later open scrutiny. The judge’s notes (such as they may exist) are private and not made available. It is also a criminal offence to make an electronic recording. The litigant can take notes but how do they manage to do that whilst giving evidence or listening intently to the evolution of their own fate? A preposterous suggestion.

Expensive lawyers who support the health trust

There is another major factor in these processes. They could not proceed without the complicity of the teams of expensive solicitors and barristers who support the Respondent. All this is paid for by the taxpayer. The claimant will of course have their own legal support if they can afford it but which is obviously limited by costs. This gross “inequality of arms” is a major factor in the final “justice” handed out. I don’t think many of us would call that fair and just. Doctors are threatened with enormous costs which in most cases could only be met by selling the family home. Why? Oh yes, it’s to force them to withdraw their claims and believe it or not it usually works!

At Employment Tribunals it appears that the sum total of evidence is not scrutinised. Some evidence appears to be selectively omitted at the discretion of the ET Judge. In the Dr Prasad case (see David Hencke’s last blog) the admission by the lead of cardiology (Dr Richard Bogle) that a death which should have been reported to the coroner was not reported but “covered-up” is not even mentioned in the final judgment! One could ask for the transcript to check that this observation is correct. (Oh, no I can’t because there is no transcript but I did attend the virtual ET hearing and can vouch that I heard it stated!) That worked out quite well then didn’t it? To an outside observer who has some vicarious experience of these Tribunals it is nothing short of gobsmackingly incredible in a western democracy (I don’t have the full panoply of words to describe it!).

Former post office workers celebrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice, London, after having their convictions overturned by the Court of Appeal. Thirty-nine former subpostmasters who were convicted of theft, fraud and false accounting because of the Post Office’s defective Horizon accounting system have had their names cleared by the Court of Appeal. Issue date: Friday April 23, 2021. PA Photo. Photo credit : Yui Mok/PA Wire

The Post Office workers (Horizon scandal) did not commit any crimes neither did the NHS Whistleblowers. They have not broken any laws. Yet how is it that they have failed to present a case of sufficient strength to convince an ET Judge? Their punishment for exposing potentially harmful processes, which could save lives, is to be condemned, lose their careers, their livelihoods, their homes and in some cases their families or even their own lives. Put simply they are crushed by massive inequality of arms – expensive lawyers funded by the taxpayer. Swathes of evidence is ignored.

Is there some sort of collusion between the judiciary and the respondent or their legal representatives? Some MHPS hearings are seemingly very dodgy (some doctors/victims have observed this and can demonstrate it with evidence) up to and including the invention of spurious legal terms such as “fitness for purpose” which is unknown in British Employment law (see David Hencke’s blog on the Maintaining High Professional Standards Appeal).

Then there is always the possibility of undeclared conflicts of interest in the appointment of an ET officials. Just saying…..

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