Whistleblowing: nephrologist who reported colleagues to GMC was unfairly dismissed

A consultant nephrologist was unfairly dismissed for whistleblowing after reporting colleagues to the General Medical Council over a new technique she believed to be dangerous, an employment tribunal has ruled.1

The buttonholing procedure, which involved using blunt needles to aid dialysis, divided opinion among consultants in the renal unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Portsmouth, the tribunal heard. Jasna Macanovic strongly opposed it after learning that some patients had suffered complications, and some other colleagues were also sceptical.

Maconovic made a series of complaints internally and when that failed, she made a report to the Care Quality Commission (CQC). In the end, all the consultants agreed a statement that buttonholing should not actively be encouraged and that safeguards would be applied for those patients who insisted on continuing with it.

After the CQC failed to …