By Dr Minh Alexander NHS whistleblower and former consultant psychiatrist 19 April 2018
Whistleblowing cases can take years to resolve.
A very serious and interesting social care whistleblower case is that of Martin Morton’s whistleblowing about financial abuse of vulnerable adults who should have received care and protection by Wirral Council.
Morton was vindicated after a long fight, and the Council had to re-pay approximately half a million pounds to care home residents, that should not have been charged:
Wirral whistleblower Martin Morton’s six year fight for justice finally is over
The Equality and Human Rights Commission criticised Wirral Council for Disability discrimination:
Watchdog accuses Wirral Council of discrimination against disabled people
Morton’s case was featured by the specialist periodical Community Care, in which lack of effective protection for whistleblowers was highlighted:
Notably, Morton successfully pursued his whistleblowing case using criminal harassment provisions, thereby underlining how serious whistleblower reprisal can sometimes be.
His case is important in helping to highlight the deficiencies of current civil UK whistleblowing law (the Public Interest Disclosure Act), which does not hold individuals responsible for misconduct and criminal behaviour in the course of suppressing and victimising whistleblowers.
His case also featured in reportage about widespread local authority use of gagging clauses:
Council whistleblower who signed gagging agreement speaks out
Morton is still seeking answers. The ICO ruled partly in his favour after the Council withheld a relevant report about the treatment of whistleblowers in its entirety.
ICO decision reference FS50649341
|
An Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber) will now hear an appeal for further disclosure at Field House, 15-25 Breams Buildings, London, EC4A 1DZ on 26 April 2018. This is a blog about the forthcoming hearing:
|
RELATED ITEMS:
UK Whistleblowing Law is an Ass: Helen Rochester v Ingham House Ltd and the Complicit CQC
Wirral whistleblower Martin Morton speaks up for truth and justice at Hillsborough Law event
Alexander's Excavations 
A council with a corrosive culture.
Given time, nearly all bureaucracies deteriorate the same way. They are, of course, our bureaucracies, funded by our money. Thus our responsibility.
Blessings on Martin Morton. Look forward to learning more about his mission.
LikeLike
There are councils treating members of the public this way who are not whistleblowers too. And all the ombudsmen and regulatory bodies cover it up entirely.
LikeLiked by 1 person