The treatment of nurse Margaret Haywood, who was struck off for highlighting shocking standards of care at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, could stop others putting their heads above the parapet to highlight wrongs. So who is this decision really protecting? Health reporter SIOBHAN RYAN argues that only health bosses will benefit while patients and families will ultimately lose out.

The case of Margaret Haywood has set a dangerous and depressing precedent.

Right at this moment there will be nurses and other staff working in hospitals not just in Sussex but across the country who will have concerns about the treatment and care being given to patients.

Do they turn whistleblower and expose what is going on or do they sit tight, keep their heads down and let things carry on as they are?

In these times of recession the last thing anyone wants to do is risk their job so, when they see what has happened to Ms Hayward, it would not be surprising if they decide the risk isn’t worth it.

When the Panorama programme – for which Ms Haywood filmed undercover – was screened in 2005 it sent shockwaves around the country.

The images of elderly and confused patients being left to sit in their own urine, not being fed properly and crying because they could not get to the toilet on time filled people with horror.

The Argus was inundated with calls from relatives furious about what they had seen and with their own horror stories to tell.

Some very difficult questions were asked, officials from the Healthcare Commission came down to the hospital to see what was going on and managers had to change radically their policy for care of the elderly.

Closed

Hospital managers said they had been made aware of the problems before filming began and had started taking action but, as Ms Haywood showed, there was still a lot of worrying evidence.

The offending ward, Peel and Stuart, was closed and refurbished and has been given a new name.

New staff were appointed and a new attitude adopted. Over the years things have been getting better.

No doubt the hospital had hoped that would be the end to the matter.

But the decision to take action against Ms Haywood for what she had done and the surprising decision by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to kick her out of the profession has thrown it back into the spotlight.

The Argus is once again receiving emails, calls and messages from Sussex residents – with almost every comment supporting Ms Haywood and expressing outrage at her losing her job.

Ironically it has also had one or two messages from hospital staff who have raised concerns about activities at the Royal Sussex even today but are too scared to leave their names.

It’s difficult to blame them when they know they are putting their jobs on the line simply by picking up the phone.

And that’s the core of the problem.

It’s all very well saying proper procedures need to be followed and there is a complaints system in place so people who want to raise an issue are protected.

But how many times does that really work?

The NHS is said to pride itself on being open and accountable but when someone comes out into the open and says something is wrong, they are harshly punished.

To be struck off by her fellow professionals for exposing bad practice by other nurses is sending out a confused and wrong message.

The NMC said at Ms Haywood’s hearing that, due to the seriousness of her misconduct in breaching confidentiality by making the programme, it was not in the public interest for her to be able to continue to practise as a nurse. But it can be argued that she was doing nothing but acting in the interest of the public by exposing some shocking standards of care.

No one would argue against confidentiality being a serious issue. But no BBC footage in the programme was transmitted without the permission of the patients or their families.

We should also remember and thank those patients and families who agreed to the broadcast to help highlight what was going on.

Vilified

In reality Ms Haywood should be owed a debt of gratitude rather than be vilified, dragged before a hearing and lose her job.

So many patients at the Royal Sussex have a lot to thank Ms Haywood for because she ensured that hospital managers and staff brought in some muchneeded changes.

It seems unlikely that any more Ms Haywoods will dare come forward in the future. In the long term it will be patients and relatives who will suffer.

Action on Elder Abuse has said it intends to support Ms Haywood, 58, who is from Liverpool, and will fight to get her reinstated.

It says the interests of the nursing profession have taken precedence over uncovering and highlighting conditions on wards and says it wants an independent inquiry into the quality of care being provided to older people by the NHS.

In the meantime it is hoped that what we have seen this week will not put off some potential whistleblowers.

What matters is the care and treatment of patients.

Penalising someone brave enough to stand up and be counted says a lot about the sad state of the health service at the moment.