Consultant took 4 years to declare private clinic Doctor failed to disclose he was boss at business used by NHS
AN NHS consultant took four years to officially declare he was director of a private clinic – which treats NHS patients from his own Trust.
Stephen Lake failed to tell Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust in April 2012 that he had registered Worcestershire Bowel Clinic Limited as a company in January of that year.
The omission has now been criticised in an external report looking into potential conflicts of interest.
It states both Mr Lake and fellow Trust consultant Steve Pandey officially declared their joint directorships of the Birmingham-registered clinic to their NHS bosses in 2016.
The report also states their private business was mentioned earlier in their ‘job plans and appraisals’, although does not say when or how specifically.
But referring to a 2012 declarations of interest form Mr Lake had submitted, the report states: “There is no reference to WBC Ltd on this form by Lake” – with the report adding the clinic should have been included for ‘completeness’.
Overall, the report criticises the Trust over ‘weakness’ in its declarations of interest procedures, but clears the two men of any ‘wrongdoing’. It states: “Mr Pandey and Mr Lake’s actions in this matter and the evidence seen in this investigation, does not support any suggestion of wrongdoing or that they sought to be anything other than transparent in declaring their private practice interests.”
The Trust told the Post both Mr Lake and Mr Pandey had seen the report before publication, but insisted it remained independent.
It said: “The trust has a duty of care to its employees and as Mr Lake and Mr Pandey were at the heart of the investigation the report has been shared with them. This is an independent report carried out by external experts who are widely experienced in ensuring that reports are accurate and independent.”
Last July it was reported that the Trust spent more than £1 million sending patients to the privately-run Worcestershire Bowel Clinic, via Spire South Bank Hospital, between September 2013 and March 2016.
In October 2011 both Mr Lake and Mr Pandey had been among consultants first told of a Joint Services Review (JSR) by the Trust, a reorgan- isation of NHS Worcestershire to million savings.
In January 2012 they registered WBC Ltd to a Birmingham address. It began treating NHS patients sent from their own Trust via Spire South Bank Hospital, from October 2013.
The men were subsequently among clinicians to successfully argue as part of a review to centralise bowel surgery at Worcester Royal. Centralisation took place in mid2013 which resulted in the closure of bowel surgery provision at Alexandra Hospital, Redditch.
The report was compiled by former NHS chief executive Carole Taylor-Brown, who said Mr Lake should have registered his interest in WBC Ltd in April 2012 when he submitted the declaration of interest form during the Joint Services Review.
The Trust, the report said, now intended to introduce measures to improve its updating of its corporate declaration of interest registers. services across help make £50