Exclusive: Ombudsman Rob Behrens hits out at ‘unacceptable attitudes to whistleblowing ’ and calls for urgent change
More babies will be harmed unless “systemic changes” are made to end the “defensive leadership” and unacceptable treatment of whistleblowers in the NHS, the health service ombudsman has warned in the wake of the Lucy Letby case.
Rob Behrens said there were “lots of similarities” between the spate of baby death scandals in recent years and the failure of executives at the Countess of Chester hospital to act on repeated concerns raised about the neonatal nurse.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Guardian, he said rapid changes must be made to England’s maternity and neonatal services or more babies would suffer.
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