Doctors raise safety fears at Birmingham hospitals

Whistleblowers astatine 1 of England's worst performing infirmary trusts person said a clime of fearfulness among unit is putting patients astatine risk.

Former and existent clinicians astatine University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) NHS Trust allege they were punished by absorption for raising information concerns, a BBC Newsnight probe found.

One insider said the spot was "a spot similar the mafia".

The spot said it took "patient information precise seriously".

It said it had a "high reporting civilization of incidents" to guarantee accountability and learning.

Concerns raised by unit included a unsafe shortage of nurses and a deficiency of connection starring to immoderate haematology patients dying without receiving treatment.

The spot - which is rated "requires improvement" by healthcare regulator the Care Quality Commission - is 1 of the largest successful the UK, with 4 hospitals serving much than 2 cardinal patients a year.

The deaths of 20 patients successful the haematology section of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, which is tally by the trust, led to a reappraisal successful 2017 by advisor Emmanouil Nikolousis.

Mr Nikolousis, who near the spot successful 2020, told the BBC helium was shocked by the failings helium recovered and believes patients' lives could person been saved.

A study by Mr Nikolousis criticised a deficiency of "ownership" of patients and a deficiency of connection among elder clinicians. In immoderate cases this led to patients dying without having received treatment, helium said.

"Certainly determination should person been antithetic actions done," helium said. "They could beryllium saved. Certainly, erstwhile you don't person an enactment done, past you don't truly cognize the outcome."

"All these diseases successful haematology, they're highly complex…they necessitate contiguous absorption and they necessitate ownership of the patient. And rather a batch of times they necessitate coordination of the teams, and that surely hasn't happened."

Mr Nikolousis said helium felt helium had nary enactment but to discontinue aft his findings were ignored and his presumption was made "untenable". He near the NHS aft 18 years.

"They were trying, arsenic they did with different colleagues, to wholly benignant of ruin your career," helium said.

Another clinician, who the BBC has agreed not to identify, said erstwhile they and different consultants raised information concerns they would beryllium "punished rather rapidly and rather harshly".

"They volition marque each kinds of spurious investigations and they volition effort to intimidate you that way," the whistleblower said.

In the past decade, the spot has referred 26 of its doctors to the General Medical Council, which tin analyse a doctor's fittingness to practise, a Freedom of Information Act petition by an NHS information campaigner found. In each cases the GMC took nary further action.

Eye surgeon Tristan Reuser was referred to the GMC successful 2017, respective months aft raising concerns astir a deficiency of nurses to enactment operations astatine the Heart of England NHS Trust, which merged with UHB successful 2018. On 1 juncture helium needed to execute exigency oculus surgery, but determination were nary nurses to assistance and helium resorted to utilizing an untrained, non-clinical unit subordinate to assistance the procedure.

He said that whistleblowers were subjected to "victimisation and retribution utilizing GMC referrals".

"I deliberation my lawsuit particularly, I person nary uncertainty that that was true," helium said.

"If you criticise elder management, they'll person you."

The GMC took nary further enactment against Mr Reuser, but issued a ceremonial informing against the hospital's aesculapian manager David Rosser for not telling them the oculus surgeon was a whistleblower. It said his behaviour risked "bringing the assemblage into disrepute and it indispensable not beryllium repeated". Mr Rosser is present main enforcement of UHB. He is owed to basal down astatine the extremity of the twelvemonth for different NHS relation successful the region.

Mr Reuser won an employment tribunal for wrongful dismissal.

Although the tribunal recovered that Mr Reuser was unfairly dismissed, the spot told the BBC that the tribunal did not enactment his assertion that helium was dismissed due to the fact that of his whistleblowing and pointed to different whistleblowing doctors against whom they accidental nary enactment was taken.

Mr Reuser said helium remains disquieted that patients would endure if elder absorption did not perceive to disapproval astir information issues.

"Somebody has to talk up connected behalf of the patients," helium said. "I felt a motivation work to talk retired astir this, due to the fact that what happens successful Birmingham, what happens to Birmingham patients is conscionable shocking."

In the 12 months from April 2020, determination were 12 "never events" - superior information incidents which should ne'er hap if due information procedures are correctly implemented. That was the highest fig successful the state for the period. The fig fell to 4 successful the pursuing 12-month period.

The spot said: "All diligent information concerns and incidents are rigorously investigated to forestall harm to our patients."

It said determination were well-established routes and enactment successful spot for unit to rise concerns, and it promoted and encouraged this.