NHS Whistleblower

[rustymotor]

Re: NHS Whistleblower

Can you just clarify, sorry, I'm not sure if the whistleblowing caused the bullying or if the whistleblowing was about the bullying ?

The whistleblowing was about poor care.

There had been many months of bullying by 2 colleagues though, the line manager was aware nothing was done about it. An argument started over a break on one particular shift. While OH was dealing with the bullying, the managemt saw the incident as a way to dismiss wife due to the earlier whistleblowing.

[Amethyst]

Re: NHS Whistleblower

Thanks for clearing that up. Makes much more sense now I'm sure [MENTION=67649]matt3942[/MENTION] will pop back in later xx

[mariefab]

Re: NHS Whistleblower

The last sentence of your post #16 should be the focus of your case.

I suggest that you use your wife's witness statement to achieve this.
After the introductory paragraph;

Describe all the details of the first protected disclosure.
Detail every response from the employer.
If there was no response say so.
Include all the information about any enquiries your wife made chasing up this matter.

Repeat this for the second disclosure.

Then, and only then, go on to describe what happened with the meetings and bullying etc.
Focus on the actions of HR, the matron and the sister as representatives of the employer.

[matt3942]

Re: NHS Whistleblower

This appears to be a complex case and I'm not entirely sure how best to advise you beyond what [MENTION=26290]mariefab[/MENTION] has advised already.

You should certainly push on with your claim for the time being but be mindful of how difficult constructive unfair dismissal claims are to prove/win, and how extensive the NHS' resources are.

All the best.

- Matt

[rustymotor]

Re: NHS Whistleblower

Thank you for the advice..

Does constructive unfair dismissal apply when a person does not have 2 years service?

We are bringing the case by virtue of the whistleblowing.

Thanks again.

[matt3942]

Re: NHS Whistleblower

TBH I'm not entirely sure - my understanding is that (like unfair dismissal) you can claim constructive dismissal within the first two years if it's based on a reason deemed automatically unfair, i.e. victimisation as a result of making a protected disclosure.

You may wish to have that clarified by a legal professional though.

- Matt

[rustymotor]

Re: NHS Whistleblower

TBH I'm not entirely sure - my understanding is that (like unfair dismissal) you can claim constructive dismissal within the first two years if it's based on a reason deemed automatically unfair, i.e. victimisation as a result of making a protected disclosure.

You may wish to have that clarified by a legal professional though.

- Matt

Hi Matt, just going on the ET3 for that..we will see pro bono today and perhaps they can shed a bit of light on the topic..

[matt3942]

Re: NHS Whistleblower

Please do let us know what you're advised.

All the best.

- Matt

[rustymotor]

Re: NHS Whistleblower

Hi,

We have now had a reply from pro bono however, we think the case is too complex for them to really give good advice, they did quote a case relating to whistleblowing but, it only dealt with the disclosure.

We have a question : Is an in house union secretary classed as a reporting body for whistleblowing?

Thanks,

Kind regards.

[mariefab]

Re: NHS Whistleblower

No, unless that in house union secretary had been formally nominated by the particular employer as the person designated to receive protected disclosures.

[rustymotor]

Re: NHS Whistleblower

No, unless that in house union secretary had been formally nominated by the particular employer as the person designated to receive protected disclosures.

Thank you for that! In this case OH gave the Unison rep copies of everything in the hope they would offer support however, later refused to take calls or answer texts, when a request was made for the Union to look at providing legal help..The regional office simply said : They had little input and according to the in house secretary the regional office said further that OH had been accused of bullying and that she was just counter-claiming and as such they would not help. They even claimed her membership start date was a lot later than it actually was.

Our guess is that the Union rep told the HR department about the meeting which was several weeks before the what they call Minor Breach meeting which turns out it was a disciplinary hearing where the HR had already decided OH was culpable. On top of this they had another incident logged which we found out about 6 months later. No doubt they would have gone for dismissal at some point.

My own view and on examining the 1300 documents the HR dpeartment way over stepped the mark and could well fall in to similar case Ramphal v Dept of Transport and on to Chhabra.

I would advise anyone to stay clear of the Union regarding disclosures.

Thanks again.

[rustymotor]

Re: NHS Whistleblower

Hi,

Just an update: The bundle has been a constant source of aggravation for some time..documents altered, some removed others and some are almost blank pages! Their sols have failed to produce statements as per the order, they had 3 months to do so. They have our statement and now screaming they need further time to produce their statements. They applied for extra time, a telephone hearing was set for 23/12 now they have requested an in person meeting on the same day, this was granted to them within hours.

We applied for a new trial date and more days, we also want to make a supplementary bundle with our clear documents in however, the sols are objecting to this big time saying, we intend to ambush them..we have told the Tribunal that all documents will relate to the core bundle numbers as per our statement.

A few questions:

Can we in law produce a supplementary bundle and give to the Judge on the day?
There is an up to £1000 fine consequences of non compliance in default of s7 (4) ET Act 1996 is it enforceable?
They have increased their witness's to 8 plus ours and we have asked for a new trial date with more days, ignored what can be done?

There appears to be an imbalance in the process as it looks like the tail is wagging the dog.

Any help would be appreciated,

Seasons Greetings.

[mariefab]

Re: NHS Whistleblower

Disclosing documents on the day of the hearing will not endear you to the Tribunal. They may refuse to admit them.
Send the Respondent copies of your all the documents you want to be included in bundle, by recorded delivery. State that you expect them to be included in the bundle. If the Respondent has a different version of a document in the bundle add a (b) to the relevant bundle number e.g. doc. 117(b).
Also send an email informing them that these are on their way. In that email write a list of the documents with the appropriate bundle numbers and a brief description of the contents of each one. (Print and keep a copy of the email.)

They will need to provide reasons why they have been unable to produce their statements to the Tribunal.
You could ask them now why 3 months wasn't long enough. (You never know they might even answer you.)
Be ready to object to an extension of time if they don't come up with good reasons.

There's a great deal a judicial discretion involved in the matter of fines.

Raise the new trial date and additional days again at the meeting on the 23rd.

[rustymotor]

Re: NHS Whistleblower

Hi mariefab,

Many thanks for your reply.

We didn't intend to produce documents that the other side have not seen, just to produce a small claimants key documents for ease of navigation. We have told their solicitor that all the documents for the supplement will have identical numbers to the core. They have taken our key docs and spread them around the bundle also, our docs are illegible. This am we sent a list and scanned copies to them..maybe 20 docs. They have also removed docs from the agreed bundle saying they objected to them, we asked when did you object..no reply.

We asked for a postponement due to health and extra days for trial..we have to see what happens next week at the 3rd case management hearing..we also have requested a list of the witness's, no reply.

We will follow your advice thanks..

[rustymotor]

Re: NHS Whistleblower

Update:

We had case management No 3. Extension was given to the Respondent to produce statements however, we had a good result on other issues, their sols tried to have a lot of documents removed even wanted our key witness removed from the process in case their witness's were embarrassed, the judge agreed for us to make a supplementary set of docs and tuck them in with the statement. We stuck with the original trial date but, had an extra day cleared if needed, happy day.

The other side are changing docs such as work rotas to show that certain people involved were not at work those days..think they are getting desperate now.

We followed your advice mariefab and now send everything via email and recorded delivery..and finally, they turned up with bundle number 3, now we can almost read the documents..:santa_smiley: