Whistling in the dark

Timon Molloy, Editor

If one needs proof that the UK’s whistleblower legislation has worked, the evidence lies in a negative says Guy Dehn, director of the charity Public Concern at Work (PCaW). He points to the fact that no scandal comparable to the high rate of baby deaths during open heart surgery at Bristol Royal Infirmary, revealed by consultant anaesthetist Stephen Bolsin in 1992, or the multiple killings of elderly patients by GP Harold Shipman, exposed by his colleague Dr Linda Reynolds in 1998, has come to light since the Public Interest Disclosure Act became law 10 years ago. PCaW was instrumental in ensuring that the statute, which is designed to give protection against victimisation to whistleblowers who act in good faith, made it onto the books; to coincide with the anniversary it has published a new Publicly Available Specification (PAS) [1], which sets out good practice on the introduction and operation of a whistleblowing policy.