Two doctors?

The management of Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust now make the claim that they have gagged only two doctors.1 I am shocked and surprised by this new claim. Two years ago I made a freedom of information request for all the compromise agreements containing gag clauses which “the trust had entered into with doctors.” At the Information Commissioner’s instigation the trust provided the agreements, with names and dates black pencilled. There were 12. The decision notice issued by the commissioner in November 2009 confirmed that my request related solely to agreements with doctors.2 If management wish to persist in this new claim, perhaps it would be wise for them to provide all 12 agreements, with job titles, for independent inspection by the Department of Health or an appropriate member of parliament.

I also note that management are attempting to fire off a few angry flares at the BMJ rather than deal with the serious issues arising from Gornall’s piece.3 The trust used a local law firm, Mace and Jones, where one of the trust’s non-executive directors sits as chairman, to draft at least some of these compromise agreements—certain of which included “super gag clauses” preventing doctors from making any communication about any NHS matter with any member of the media. That law firm is now under investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for a possible conflict of interest. The same law firm threatened my father with an injunction if he spoke about his concerns to local members of parliament. Questions surrounding the trust’s behaviour need answers, since management are behaving like Roman centurions, with the aid of lawyers, in the rabid persecution of any critical comment.