{"id":888,"date":"2021-08-23T13:02:37","date_gmt":"2021-08-23T12:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/west-suffolk-hospital-chief-resigns-prior-to-bullying-claims-review\/"},"modified":"2021-08-23T13:02:37","modified_gmt":"2021-08-23T12:02:37","slug":"west-suffolk-hospital-chief-resigns-prior-to-bullying-claims-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/west-suffolk-hospital-chief-resigns-prior-to-bullying-claims-review\/","title":{"rendered":"West Suffolk hospital chief resigns prior to bullying claims review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Jenny Vaughan, chair of the Doctors\u2019 Association states that the review into this case should have been released as soon as possible, in order to learn lessons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chief executive at Matt Hancock\u2019s local hospital is to step down before the publication of a delayed review into bullying allegations involving an unprecedented demand for fingerprints from senior clinicians first revealed by the Guardian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2020, a \u201crapid review\u201d<\/a> was ordered into claims of a \u201cwitch-hunt\u201d at West Suffolk hospital trust, from which the former health secretary had to recuse himself because of his friendship with the trust\u2019s chief executive, Stephen Dunn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, Dunn announced he was resigning after what he acknowledged were \u201coperational, structural and cultural challenges within the trust\u201d. The trust\u2019s deputy chief executive, Craig Black, will be taking over as interim chief executive while a replacement is found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dunn\u2019s exit, after seven years in charge at the Bury St Edmunds-based trust, follows the departure of the trust\u2019s medical director, Nick Jenkins<\/a>, who stepped down to support his family. Its chief operating officer, Helen Beck, is due to retire in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NHS has been criticised for taking its time to publish a review that had initially been promised in April 2020, but was delayed ostensibly because of the pandemic. In December, the Doctors\u2019 Association UK said it suspected<\/a> the conclusions were being sat on because they were likely to make embarrassing reading for Dunn, who was once described by Hancock as a \u201cbrilliant leader\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dunn was urged by the Royal College of Anaesthetists to end the \u201ctoxic management culture\u201d<\/a> after the Guardian revealed the trust had demanded fingerprint samples<\/a> of senior clinicians in the hunt for a whistleblower who had tipped off a family about a potentially botched operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Warby, whose wife, Susan, died after an operation in August 2018, was sent an anonymous letter highlighting errors in her procedure. A coroner concluded that errors in her care had contributed to her death. This led to a search for the whistleblower, which health unions described as a \u201cwitch-hunt\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"'Thank<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The incident, and other failings in patient safety, contributed to the hospital in January becoming the first to be relegated by Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors<\/a> from \u201coutstanding\u201d to \u201crequires improvement\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weeks before Warby\u2019s operation, Patricia Mills, a consultant anaesthetist at the trust, had, along with a number of other colleagues, formally raised the alarm internally about patient safety over a doctor who had been seen injecting himself with drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dozens of staff had accessed Warby\u2019s hospital records, but it was those who had expressed concern about the drug-taking doctor who were asked to provide fingerprint and handwriting samples, insiders claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the same doctor was involved in Warby\u2019s care, Mills, along with other colleagues who had complained, was immediately suspected by those investigating the leak<\/a> of alerting her family to the errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mills has consistently denied this. But managers demanded that she and other senior staff provide fingerprint and handwriting samples to prove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an email seen by the Guardian, Beck had warned Mills that any failure to provide fingerprints \u201ccould be considered as evidence which implicates you as being involved in the writing of the letter\u201d. Despite the email, Dunn claimed staff had not been threatened to provide fingerprints, and that the request was only voluntary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his resignation statement, Dunn said: \u201cThe last 18 months has presented operational, structural, and cultural challenges within the trust, with a challenging Care Quality Commission inspection locally and the overwhelming impact of the pandemic taking a toll on us all. I have been thinking about my position for some time but felt it was my duty to our amazing staff to lead the trust through one of the most difficult times it has ever faced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow is the right time to step down, as we emerge from the brutal pandemic and refresh our strategy for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trust\u2019s chair, Sheila Childerhouse, said Dunn had led the trust with \u201cpassion and dedication\u201d. She added: \u201cWe thank him for his commitment and leadership over the last seven years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Jenny Vaughan of the Doctors\u2019 Association said: \u201cOur concern is that the report of the review into bullying allegations should have been published as soon as possible so that vital lessons could have been learned in a timely fashion. It has still not seen the light of day despite recent changes in the leadership of the hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFigures show that less than 60% of West Suffolk staff feel they are treated fairly when they raise patient safety concerns. We hope, despite this, that the report will be totally rigorous when it comes to examining the actions of the executive. An open safety culture is always better for patient care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full article here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Jenny Vaughan, chair of the Doctors\u2019 Association states that the review into this case should have been released as soon as possible, in order…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[553,38,39,40,33,35,42,114],"class_list":["post-888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-nhs","tag-bullying-in-nhs","tag-dauk","tag-doctors-association-uk","tag-dr-jenny-vaughan","tag-press","tag-protect-the-frontline","tag-the-doctors-association-uk","tag-the-guardian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dauk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}