An independent inquiry is to be carried out into urology services at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust after a consultant urologist revealed serious concerns about the quality of care at the unit.
Mr Peter Duffy, a former consultant urologist at the trust's Royal Lancaster Infirmary, recently published the book Whistle in the Wind, detailing allegations of poor medical care by some staff at the department. The urologist says he was forced out of the trust after raising concerns about three colleagues and was awarded compensation of £102,000 for unfair constructive dismissal last year.
The BMJ reports that, at a September meeting, the trust’s board of governors discussed a possible referral to the police after Mr Duffy’s book accused colleagues of disobeying instructions from a coroner who concluded that failures in care had contributed to a patient’s death.
The trust’s chief executive, Aaron Cummins, who took over as chief executive in 2018, has now invited the urologist to a meeting on 26 September to discuss the matter.
The trust has also invited NHS Improvement and NHS England to carry out an independent review of the concerns that have been raised, the BMJ reports.
