Exclusive: A general practice nurse (GPN) has faced bullying, exclusion and stress-induced sick leave after raising concerns about patient safety and poor practice in their workplace, Nursing in Practice has been told.
The GPN, who works in the South of England and has asked to remain anonymous, said despite being targeted since speaking out earlier this year, they will not leave their workplace for fear that the situation would continue unaddressed.
They believe a ‘safe place’ is needed for all GP staff – perhaps away from the workplace – where individuals can go to raise complaints and feel assured that they will be taken seriously.
The nurse first spoke out about concerns at their practice towards the beginning of this year, after a GP quit following their own worries about unsafe practice.
‘I didn’t realise how much of a safety net they were until they left,’ the GPN said.
After the GP’s departure, the GPN continued to raise concerns to their practice manager, but was told to ‘mind your own business’.
Among the concerns raised were what they described as repeated misdiagnosis of patients and the suspected forging of baby check notes.
They also spoke up about a staff member who patients and staff complained was regularly playing computer games on shift. The GPN accuses the same staff member of refusing to see ‘Special Allocation’ patients.
Bringing in the regulators
While following the practice’s whistleblowing guidelines, the GPN says they struggled to have their concerns listened to or understood.
The GPN later reported 60 separate incidents of concern about one staff member at the practice to the relevant regulator, who the GPN says shared that 100 other referrals had also been made against this same staff member.
Healthcare assistants and members of the patient services team had also confided in the GPN with their own concerns of unsafe practice in the workplace.
‘They’re really trying to cut me off’
The GPN says their work has become a lot harder since becoming a whistleblower, especially as they are the only nurse with their specific role at the surgery.
‘I’m the only one in my role where I work, they’re really trying to cut me off from a lot of things,’ they said.
Having worked as a GPN for over a decade, the nurse said they are being prevented from carrying out their usual responsibilities, and accused GP partners at the practice of ‘abusing their power’.
‘If a colleague wants to bring me something to look at, I’m not allowed to,’ they said.
‘I have to turn them away. I have the skills and opportunities to be able to interpret blood, but I’m not allowed to do that.
‘As much as we have policies and guidelines and all this, it doesn’t matter. It’s their business,’ the GPN said.
They added: ‘I’ve literally just been bullied to hell in my workplace, to the point that I’m now picking up grievances that are going higher.’ Having been ‘ignored’ by their practice manager, the GPN shared evidence with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), NHS England (NHSE) and the local integrated care board (ICB).
They said the situation had led to a period of stress-induced sick leave.
But this brought new challenges when they mentioned their anxieties during an appointment with their personal GP.
‘I also got told off for going to my own GP to report I was stressed because it flagged it to them to the ICB, so they [the practice] were worried they’d get in trouble,’ they recalled.
‘It’s a partnership issue’
Nursing in Practice also spoke with the GP whose departure caused the GPN to escalate their concerns.
The GP corroborated all the accusations made by the GPN against the staff member, and stressed the challenges that whistleblowing in general practice can bring.
They recalled being told that ‘it’s a partnership issue, we can’t get involved’, when seeking support from the local ICB.
‘Most GP partners are perfectly good doctors and perfectly honest people, but there is still a risk in issues being hidden behind the partnership,’ the GP warned.
The GP sought support from the practice’s Freedom to Speak Up Guardian – a scheme designed to help health workers speak up – but described receiving little help.
If I leave, who will fix things if they go wrong?
Despite offering some support, NHSE and the CQC have both asked the GPN why they hadn’t left their role, given the concerns raised.
‘Right now, I’m not moving because I love the patients. I do love my colleagues, and if… I leave, who’s going to be keeping an eye out for these things and fix them when they go wrong?
‘My NMC code says you speak out when you see these things, you don’t forge, you don’t lie, so why is it if you see something, you might as well quit?’ the GPN asked.
‘I’m being scrutinised on a daily basis’
The GPN alleges that the practice partners also sought to change their rota after they spoke out, burdening them with unrealistic workloads and trying to remove their access to the flexible working hours that they use to take their child to school.
They said they were also prevented from having access to overtime work and pay for a month.
‘All that’s changed is that I’m being scrutinised on a daily basis. I literally don’t even go a day without receiving a c****y email or unfair treatment,’ they said.
‘I’ll take the hit’
Looking back on the mistreatment they have faced so far, the GPN said they would not recommend others to speak out and has warned their colleagues to stay quiet.
‘I’ll take the hit,’ they said.
‘Even with whistleblowing bad things, nothing’s changed. Instead, it’s trying to find the culprit – me – and make my life hell.’
Despite this, they said they stood by their decision to whistle blow, seeing it as their duty as a nurse.
‘When I signed up to do nursing, over 10 years ago, you literally acknowledge that you’re going to be honest, you’re going to tell the truth, you’re going to speak up if you see bad practice, and if you don’t, I would just be just as bad for not saying anything,’ they said.
The GPN says that more support is needed outside of an individual’s practice to support them when speaking out.
‘There needs to be somewhere that everyone is aware of, that is your safe place and that you can go to raise complaints,’ they added.
‘If you’re not happy to do it internally, or you’re too scared, there needs to be somewhere else that you know the name, address and contact number of, to be able to have a safe place to speak and to know someone’s going to take the complaint seriously.’
This article follows an analysis piece on whistleblowing in primary care which can be accessed here.
