NHS bosses face lifetime ban for silencing whistleblowers

NHS managers who silence whistleblowers or endanger patients through misconduct face being sacked and barred from working in the health service for life under radical government plans to regulate thousands of bosses for the first time.

- Andrew Gregory

Ministers will launch a public consultation tomorrow seeking views on the proposals, which they say are designed to eradicate a "culture of cover-up" in the NHS.

The move follows a series of scandals over the last decade at trusts including Morecambe Bay, East Kent and Shrewsbury and Telford.

A new statutory duty of candour, making NHS managers legally accountable for responding to concerns about patient safety, could also be introduced as part of the government plans.

Measures being considered include "statutory barring mechanisms", similar to systems used for teachers, which could result in health bosses deemed to be unfit to practise appearing on a centrally held list.