Government to ban gagging clauses on NHS whistleblowers

Hundreds of whistleblowers have in the past been silenced by the clauses in their severance packages.

But Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the practice would end with immediate effect to help create a culture of “openness and transparency” across the NHS.

Staff leaving the health service will instead have a new legal right that allows them to speak out about issues in the public interest, such as death rates or poor care.

The move comes in the wake of the Mid Staffordshire scandal, in which hundreds of patients are believed to have died because of poor care.

Mr Hunt told the Daily Mail: “We need a culture of openness and transparency if we are going to stop another Mid Staffs from happening. The era of gagging NHS staff from raising their real worries about patient care must come to an end.”

Almost £15m was spent over three years on compromise agreements with staff leaving the NHS, the Mail said, of which 90 per cent contained clauses to stop whistleblowers from speaking out.

Gary Walker, the former chief executive of United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust, claimed he was sacked after raising concerns about patient safety. He accepted a gagging clause as part of a settlement package but broke the terms to speak out last month about concerns over care.

Mr Hunt told the newspaper: “We are just going to ban them (gagging clauses).”