Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced that gagging clauses stopping departing NHS staff from speaking out about patient safety or care have been banned by the Government.
Mr Hunt said that the practice, which has silenced hundreds of whistleblowers in the past, will end with immediate effect in a bid to create a culture of “openness and transparency” across the NHS.
Until now, clauses in severance packages have prevented departing staff from speaking out and have led to situations such as when former Chief Executive Gary Walker was effectively gagged after being sacked from the United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust after raising concerns about patient safety.
Mr Walker accepted a gagging clause as part of his settlement package, as did some 90 per cent of staff over the last three years, but then broke the terms to speak out about his concerns over care.
However, from now on staff leaving the health service will have a new legal right that will allow them to speak about issues deemed to be in the public interest.
The Government’s move comes in the wake of the Mid Staffordshire scandal, in which hundreds of patients are believed to have died because of poor care and Mr Hunt said that the “culture of covering up problems” had led to the scandal.
Mr Hunt said that banning the gagging clauses was only part of the response to the Mid Staffs scandal however and announced that the Government is to appoint a new position of Chief Inspector of Hospitals to drive up standards and create a culture of consistently striving for excellence.