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Hospital whistleblower claims he was victimised
Peter Dominiczak9 Sep 2009
A cancer consultant who repeatedly raised concerns about the safety of patients at a London hospital was set to claim today that his warnings were ignored by bosses.
Ramon Niekrash, 50, a consultant urologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, alleges he was branded a "trouble-maker" and was victimised by managers after he made allegations about cost-cutting in a series of letters.
In an employment tribunal against the Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust today, he was set to claim that the reduction of specialist nurses and closure of the specialist urology ward damaged the care of patients.
He also questioned the hospital's ability to provide a safe service, and made further allegations of widespread bullying of staff.
The hospital reopened in 2002 after a £93million rebuilding scheme funded by a Private Finance Initiative, but declared itself technically insolvent in 2006 after auditors said it was heading for a deficit of £100 million by 2008-09.
This year it merged with two other hospitals to form the South London Healthcare NHS Trust.
Before the employment tribunal hearing in Croydon, Mr Niekrash said: "I would have been failing in my duty as a doctor if I had not brought the matters of patient care and safety to the attention of trust management.
"I believe I have suffered the consequences of having raised those issues in a trust management system, which put cost savings above the issues of patient care.
"The issues I raised have still not been resolved and have manifested."
As head of urological cancer between January 2002 and November 2007, Mr Niekrash was responsible for identifying problems and suggesting improvements to the service.
His lawyer, Arpita Dutt of employment law firm Russell Jones & Walker, said her client had acted in the public interest and had been victimised.
She said: "The NHS's stance on whistleblowing is clear, but if someone at such a senior level can be treated like this, what message does that send to other employees with concerns to raise?"
A spokesman for the hospital said the trust would fight the case.
Reader views (1)
This is crazy. Dr Ramon Niekrash was only trying to do his job properly with the best interests of the hospital and his patients at heart. However, I think we need to know more about the victimisation claim before making any meaningful comments though. Also, more about the bullying of staff. In what way was Dr Ramon Niekrash victimised? In what way were the staff bullied? What actually happened?
- Graham Rodhouse, Helmond, Netherlands, 09/09/2009 13:22
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