The NHS has certainly been in the spotlight over recent weeks. There has been much said about the state of A&E and the 111 helpline service with several whistleblowers coming forward to give an insider’s view. The Telegraph blog has reported today that the NHS has spent £2m on gagging clauses.

I have seen in practice that the Tribunal has to treat a fine line between those that are seen to cause trouble and genuine whistleblowers but there are so few victories for the alleged whistleblowers at Tribunal. The individual cases of whistleblowers and their subsequent treatment by managers has been reported to include bullying, dismissal, capability warnings and disciplinary sanctions. A lot of cases settle out of court as the monies offered outweigh the benefits of proceeding to a complicated multi-day hearing. The trouble with this is that the employee is then effectively gagged and the activity complained off is left to continue.

When presenting a complaint to Tribunal the employee has to signify whether they want the claim to be drawn to the attention of the relevant body. What does the Tribunal actually do in these cases? Does anyone have any experience of this going further? Does the Health Care commission take an interest, in NHS cases? When I have ticked the box this appears to lead to inaction.