MPs could force NHS whistleblowers to come forward

A group of MPs on the cross-party health select committee have claimed that NHS whistleblowers should be forced to reveal any concerns they have or face disciplinary action themselves.

The committee has urged the General Medical Council (GMC) to take a more proactive approach to the issue of staff keeping quiet about medical malpractice.

MP Stephen Dorrell, who chairs the committee, said the GMC has not pursued the regulatory issues surrounding whistleblowing thoroughly enough.

However, he warned against root and branch changes to NHS policy.

He told BBC News: "We're not suggesting a new doctrine for staff. It's part of the professional obligation."

Mr Dorrell suggested that staff can be put off reporting their concerns to managers by the fact that a number of whistleblowers have faced disproportionate or inappropriate action from their employers for coming forward.

The announcement comes after Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming accused Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board of a "cover-up" after it won an injunction in 2008 preventing a junior doctor from revealing that more than 100 cancer patients in the region had been treated by an "untrained" surgeon.

The board refutes the allegations.