THE WHISTLEBLOWER

An NHS administrator blew the whistle

Do you believe the published NHS waiting times? An NHS manager was 'blown out' of the service after claiming manipulation of waiting lists by Weston General Hospital.

Matthew Hill, Health Corespondent carried out this special investigation.

We’re all used to waiting, especially to see a doctor. But Andrew Clark thought his wait was excessive. It took Weston General Hospital seven years to fix an appointment for him to see a consultant.

According to government guidelines, he should have been seen within 18 months.

"I am really angry about it," he told Inside Out. "I went through seven years of pain and suffering, and over the years my health deteriorated, because of Weston General Hospital's mishandling of the situation".

Andrew Clark waited seven years for consultant appointment

What could have gone wrong

Michele Masson thinks she knows. Until late last year, she managed the waiting lists at Weston. And she says she was told to manipulate them to make it seem that patients weren’t waiting too long.

“Senior management would instruct me to remove any patient that was waiting longer than the agreed target,” she told Inside Out.

It’s a serious allegation. The Trust which runs Weston Hospital has won contracts worth tens of thousands of pounds, and bosses have received bonuses, on the basis that they had met their waiting list targets.

Michele raised her concerns with her bosses. But the once good working relationship turned sour. Michele walked out of her job and went to start a new life in Spain.

Michele Masson refuses to be gagged

The hospital launched an inquiry, which concluded that there was no basis to her claims. The investigators didn’t manage to track down Michele in Spain, but did speak to five senior managers at the hospital who were adamant there’d been no wrongdoing.

"The conclusion of the independent investigator was that the waiting lists reported were accurate and that there had been no wrongdoing on the part of any senior managers within the Trust," the Trust’s Head of Personnel, John Edwards, told us.

But Inside Out found two hospital insiders who support Michele Masson’s claims. They told reporter Matthew Hill that they had also been told to take patients off the waiting lists.

Mr Edwards is keen to hear from them.

"We would like to follow up their concerns. They are free to talk to myself or to colleagues including the Trust chairman,” he said.

John Edwards, Head of personnel at Weston Area Health Trust

And Matthew also handed Mr Edwards a memo which Michele's boss had signed to say that she approved of Michele taking ten patients off the waiting lists, apparently against the wishes of their consultant.

He told Matthew: "The trust is anxious to see the information you have which I assume was not part of the previous investigation."

As her former bosses reopen their inquiries in Weston super Mare, Michele Masson is now reconciled to a life in Spain, where she works in a bar. She believes she’s paying the price of speaking out.

"If you blow the whistle in England against the NHS, you are unlikely to get another position in a UK hospital."