How the NHS silenced a whistleblowing doctor

Almost two years ago, a cancer surgeon named Joseph Meirion Thomas decided that he could no longer keep quiet about what he regarded as a major abuse of the NHS. The Francis inquiry into the scandal at Stafford Hospital had just published its report, reminding doctors of their ‘duty of candour’. Thomas interpreted that to mean that health professionals ‘should feel supported and protected should they ever need to speak out.’ In that spirit, he wrote in The Spectator about ‘health tourism’ — foreign nationals using NHS services to which they are not entitled, placing an already overburdened system under yet more strain.

His article caught the attention of Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, who ordered a full investigation. Encouraged, Thomas went on to write more articles about the NHS’s problems, much to the chagrin of the health establishment. The last of these sought to challenge the idea that GPs are always and everywhere a force for good. In fact they’re overrated, he said. Rather than being ‘supported and protected’, Thomas then found himself suspended from his job and ordered not to air his views in public again. Even now, he is unable to tell his story.

Like most whistleblowers, Meirion Thomas is a prickly character, as Jeremy Hunt soon discovered. The Health Secretary contacted him in person after the ‘health tourism’ article to applaud his stand. Hunt’s reward was a follow-up article accusing the government of failing ‘to grasp the nettle’ of health tourism, and then another arguing that its whole approach to NHS reform was wrongheaded. The articles were picked up by the daily newspapers, and caused quite a stir.

It’s easy to see why. Many of the NHS’s 1.7 million staff can see what’s wrong with the service, but are afraid to speak out. As the Francis inquiry concluded, this lack of candour has become one of the most serious problems facing British healthcare.