Staff fear to speak up at NHS hospital trust under police investigation, report says
Staff at a hospital trust where police are investigating at least 90 deaths say they face reprisals and ridicule from bosses if they raise concerns, according to a damning report.Asked to review University Hospitals Sussex, the report’s authors said they “repeatedly heard concerning examples of staff, often at a senior level, being ignored, dismissed and sometimes ridiculed when speaking up”.The report by Niche Health and Social Care Consulting said this fear of reprisals from whistleblowing could be harming patient safety.It also highlighted complaints of misogyny and failures to deal with “unwanted romantic advances”.The review team noted a number of challenges facing the trust, including an investigation by Sussex police into possible corporate and individual manslaughter charges over allegations of medical negligence and cover-up in the general surgery and neurosurgery departments.
Operation Bramber is focused on the deaths of more than 90 patients, and serious harm suffered by more than 100 others.It was sparked by the concerns of two consultant whistleblowers who lost their jobs at the trust after speaking up, first revealed in the Guardian in June 2023.The report found staff feared their careers could be hindered if they raised concerns.One said they had been told not to share data that made the trust look bad.Another said when they did raise concerns they were “gaslit” and targeted by management.
The report identified “significant issues with psychological safety at every [staff] level” and noted that the fear of speaking up had worsened in the last year,It said staff identified as having the potential to disagree with management said they were deliberately ignored in meetings,A staff survey conducted for the review received 376 responses, of which more than 300 were negative or very negative on the issue of speaking up,The responses often cited a “fear of reprisals”,One said: “There could be comeback which will affect your career in [a] negative manner.
” Another said: “I raised concerns.It put a target on my back.Management lied, gaslit me, would circumvent the issue, would dismiss my concerns.” A third said: “I feel no one listens.”The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.
If you have something to share on this subject you can contact us confidentially using the following methods.Secure Messaging in the Guardian appThe Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories.Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs.This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu.
Select ‘Secure Messaging’.SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and postSee our guide at theguardian.com/tips for alternative methods and the pros and cons of each.Staff complained that the executive team discouraged bad news and different opinions.The review identified a “predominance of direct and authoritative leadership styles”.
It added: “We heard repeatedly that ‘there is a parent-child dynamic in this organisation’.”It also found that “incivility and poor behaviours appear to be pervasive” and there was a strong view that these were tolerated by leaders.The report did not give details of these behaviours.Last year the Guardian revealed that a consultant surgeon was promoted after allegedly assaulting resident doctors during surgery.Six senior women at the trust complained to the reviewers of misogyny, which was felt to be prevalent among consultants.
Female staff said they faced eye rolling and other signs of dismissiveness from male colleagues when they spoke at meetings.They also faced pejorative references to sexuality when they took the lead.One woman claimed she “experienced unwanted romantic advances and inappropriate comments, with no actions taken months after reporting this to various senior leaders”.Earlier this month the trust chief executive, George Findlay, announced his departure.Andy Heeps, the acting chief executive, said the trust accepted all the report’s recommendations for improvement and its “valuable insight into what we do well, where we are improving, and where there is clearly more to do”.
He said: “The authors recognise the scale of the task in completing such a huge trust merger during the Covid pandemic, and highlight a number of key improvements such as our big reductions in waiting lists and key service quality improvements.“But they also draw attention to some fundamental issues which we’ve not yet succeeded in tackling – and all of these things need to change, and change quickly.”
Labour MPs urge Thames Water to recover £2.5m paid to executives in April
Thames Water should claw back £2.5m in bonuses that were paid to executives in April, 27 Labour MPs representing constituencies served by the utility have urged.The MPs said it was “disgusting” that the company was hiking water bills “to pay for executives’ failings when those same executives were receiving multimillion-pound bonuses”.In a letter to Thames Water’s director of corporate finance, Fred Maroudas, they called for the company to scrap its next planned round of bonuses in September and reinvest the money into water infrastructure.The letter from 27 Labour MPs in areas served by Thames Water, coordinated by Yuan Yang, the MP for Earley and Woodley, set out demands for the company, including resolving the most severe cases of pollution and failure highlighted by their constituents
US adds just 73,000 jobs in July amid pressure from Trump’s trade war
The US economy added 73,000 jobs in July, far lower than expected, amid ongoing concerns with Donald Trump’s escalating trade war.Forecasters surveyed by Bloomberg had predicted the July jobs report would show a drop in added jobs to about 109,000. The unemployment rate rose to 4.2% from 4.1% in June
Trump to blame for high cost of living, Americans say in new poll
Americans are struggling financially, grappling with debt and the rising cost of living, and are blaming the Trump administration and corporate interests for worsening economic outlooks for working families, according to a new poll.Six out of 10 Americans place blame on the Trump administration for driving up their cost of living, according to a poll conducted by Morning Consult for the Century Foundation, which asked 2,007 Americans how they are managing the high cost of living in the US economy, who they think is to blame and what are the solutions.Sixty three per cent said Trump had had a negative impact on grocery prices, and 61% said he had had a negative impact on the cost of living. Nearly half, 49%, said the Trump administration had had a negative impact on their finances. Nearly eight out of 10 Americans, including 70% of Republicans, fear that Trump’s tariffs will increase the price of everyday goods
Car finance scandal: UK supreme court poised to rule on hidden commissions
The UK’s highest court is poised to give its verdict on the £44bn car finance scandal, which could pave the way for millions of motorists to claim billions of pounds in compensation for mis-selling.The supreme court judgment, which will be handed down after financial markets close at 4.35pm on Friday, will decide whether or not to uphold a finding by the court of appeal in October that hidden commissions paid to car dealers by lenders were unlawful.That ruling, based on test cases, said making such payments to brokers who arrange car loans without disclosing the sum and terms to borrowers was unlawful. The lenders involved in the case – FirstRand Bank and Close Brothers – appealed against that decision to the supreme court
UK house prices rebound as market recovers from June dip
House prices in the UK returned to growth last month, as the market recovered from a dip in June after the end of a tax break on stamp duty.The average price of a home rose 0.6% in July to £272,664, following the biggest month-on-month fall in more than two years in June, according to Nationwide.Britain’s biggest building society said the annual rate of house price growth also improved to 2.4%, up from 2
Trump threatens drug giants with crackdown over prices
Donald Trump has threatened to use “every tool in our arsenal” to crack down on pharmaceutical giants if they fail to cut drug prices for Americans within 60 days.The president wrote to executives at 17 companies on Thursday, demanding they match their US prices for prescription drugs with the lowest price offered in other developed nations.Current prices were an “unacceptable burden” on US families, Trump said, claiming they could be up to three times higher than in other countries.After returning to the White House earlier this year and pledging to bring down drug prices, the president claimed that “most proposals” from the pharmaceutical industry amounted to “more of the same”, accusing firms of seeking to shift blame and requesting policies that would pave the way for handouts worths billions of dollars for the sector.“Make no mistake: a collaborative effort towards achieving global pricing parity would be the most effective path for companies, the government, and American patients,” Trump wrote
Amazon fails to calm tariff worries with worse-than-expected financial outlook
How will Australia’s under-16s social media ban be enforced, and which platforms will be exempt?
Met police to more than double use of live facial recognition
Zuckerberg claims ‘superintelligence is now in sight’ as Meta lavishes billions on AI
Wall Street delighted with Microsoft as it spends $100bn on AI
YouTube to gauge US users’ ages with AI after UK and Australia add age checks