‘Bullying culture’ at NHS watchdog, says ex-inspector

THE NHS regulator operated a ‘bullying and dictatorial’ culture, a former inspector has claimed.

Shyam Kumar, a consultant orthopaedics surgeon, who worked as a specialist adviser to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) between 2015 and 2019, said he was asked to review disciplines outside of his expertise and was sidelined, ignored and gossiped about,when he brought up concerns.

Mr Kumar told an employment tribunal in Manchester he had been blocked from properly assessing the orthopaedics department at South Tyneside Hospital in 2015, and was demeaned in front of colleagues.

The specialist, who provided expert advice on surgical practice as part of CQC hospital inspections, has brought a detriment claim against the organisation, arguing that he was dismissed as a result of his whistleblowing activity.

In a letter submitted to the tribunal, Mr Kumar said wrote: “While all of us are trying to root out bullying in the NHS, it is very worrying that some senior CQC staff are themselves bullies. Within the CQC there appears to remain a bullying culture, which aims to suppress dissent.”

Mr Kumar also warned of understaffing and alleged conflicts of interest, adding: “At least one CQC officer told us that the hospital being inspected was his local hospital and yet this was not considered a conflict.”

The whistleblower singled out an incident in which he was blocked from interviewing the clinical lead and two other orthopaedic surgeons at South Tyneside Hospital by Amanda Stansford, the CQC’s inspection chief for the visit.

He claimed she told him in front of colleagues to “stay away from the issues in orthopaedics” in a “demeaning manner” that felt “like a dictator passing an order”.

Mr Kumar says he was dismissed from his post and blocked from appealing.

The CQC’s legal defence, however, claimed Mr Kumar had acted in a way considered “an affront to CQC values.”

Tim Holloway, for the CQC, described a letter Mr Kumar had addressed to a doctor at his primary employer, the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, as “intimidatory”, adding that Mr Kumar had been “looking for conspiracy at every level”.

A CQC spokesman said: “The Employment Tribunal has not yet made its decision so we are unable to comment at this stage.”