NHS 'Speaking Up' scheme offers help to Whistleblowers
but is anyone looking at NHS failure to listen to and act on patient safety messages?
In a week where a midwife in Northern Ireland has been struck off by the NMC and where another high profile covid 'dissident' is up before the GMC, we share the letter we sent a few days ago. This pattern of medical censorship is still repeating across the world, from Canada to Australia, is forcing good people out of the health service and is detrimental to patient safety.
Many of the signatories to this letter have faced some form of censorship in the last 5 years. The only reply to date has been from the Workers of England union, who have been doing sterling work supporting whistleblowers.
3rd June 2025
To:
england.speakingupscheme@nhs.net
Dr Jayne Chidgey-Clark, NHS National Guardian, enquiries@nationalguardianoffice.org.uk
cc Professor Dame Carrie, MacEwen chair@gmc-uk.org
Bejoy Sebastian, President@rcn.org.uk
Ron Barclay-Smith, chair@nmc-uk.org
Speaking Up Scheme
Re: Lack of support for NHS whistleblower doctors and nurses speaking up about covid vaccine safety.
This email has been stimulated by the Speaking Up Team support scheme’s recent request for applications. Whilst you are clearly trying to provide help for health professionals who have suffered as a result of whistleblowing, the very existence of the scheme is surely a prime example of failing to look at the root cause of the problem.
Many of us have experienced first-hand the consequences of raising concerns. Those who have felt safest to speak out loudly, are those who have come out of retirement to fight the censorship or who have moved into Naturopathic and other non-GMC regulated health care. It is notable that a recent BMA survey indicated that the proportion of doctors being discouraged from or even afraid of speaking out has risen significantly between 2018 and 2024, to the point where 61% of those polled in 2024 said they may not raise concerns because they were “afraid” they or colleagues could be “unfairly blamed or suffer adverse consequences”. Your current strategy will not address this core issue and patient safety is at risk as a consequence.
We are a group of health professionals many of whom have witnessed covid vaccine injuries over the last 4 years, and the harmful effects of lockdown on patient care. Yet most of us have been constrained from speaking out because of fears for our jobs. The few of us who have spoken out to our colleagues have been smeared, gaslit and offered subtle threats of damaged career prospects.
We have written group letters to reduce a backlash on any individual and sought safety in numbers. Many of us have completed yellow cards raising concerns about vaccine injury, only to be ignored. One of our members reached out to her local whistleblowing department raising concerns about covid jabs in pregnancy, only to be sent Government guidelines and further emails received no response. Our concern remains unaddressed.
Dr Sam White, former GP, was erased from the GMC register for raising concerns about lockdowns and covid vaccines. Dr Aseem Malhotra, recently appointed as Chief Medical Advisor for the US group ‘Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Action’, is currently waiting to hear whether he will face a GMC fitness to practise panel after facing complaints for raising concerns about the harms of the covid vaccines. Senior nurses and midwives have had similar referrals to the RCN and NMC. One of the most protracted cases, predating the covid issues, is that of Dr Chris Day, a junior doctor whose whistle-blowing case against a large NHS Trust is now in its 11th year of legal wrangling in efforts to silence him.
Others of us who have spoken out publicly on social media have been referred often anonymously to the GMC. We have written to the GMC and requested a meeting with our members to further discuss these concerns but despite a detailed reply to our letter, our request to meet has been ignored. Several doctors speaking out have been referred to their Occupational Health departments for psychological assessment, on the basis presumably that anyone who disagrees with the official policy must be mentally ill.
A group of 50 of us who wrote in May 2021 to the MHRA and the Chief Medical Officer regarding the recklessness of rolling out mRNA vaccines to children, found ourselves referred by the Department of Health & Social Care to the ‘Counter Disinformation Unit’ (CDU), a shadowy group housed within the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, for having the temerity to question the ‘SAFE & EFFECTIVE’ one-size-fits-all mantra. Others including eminent academics have faced deplatforming from NHS conferences.
The evidence from last autumn’s booster campaign that a mere 18% of the NHS workforce took the covid booster and only 35% the flu jab, is very telling. Yet most staff continue to recommend these products to their patients. Given the increasing public awareness and mounting evidence that covid vaccines are causing widespread harm and are clearly ineffective, the fact that the GMC and NHS Trust leaders have been found to be silencing whistleblowers, will further destroy public trust and could face legal challenge.
We note that your service has a limited number of places at which to offer:
health and wellbeing sessions
one-to-one psychological wellbeing support
career coaching
personal development group workshops
a range of practical support through group sessions
Whilst not wanting to denigrate your valuable work, it is a serious indictment of the NHS management that such a scheme should be deemed necessary.
Today’s climate of fear and self-censorship in which NHS health professionals are working, constitutes a major risk to patient safety and runs counter to our ‘duty of candour’. Where is the support for the Whistleblowers in their own institutions, where their information should be being received with gratitude and acted upon promptly? Where is the accountability for the harassment that health professionals have faced and continue to face?
Can you inform us what strategy is in place to provide feedback to employers on the effects of their wilful blindness not only on the NHS staff attending your courses but also on delaying the implementation of change arising from whistleblowers’ evidence?
What is your approach where whistleblowers are effectively criticising the core of the official narrative?
We look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely
Dr Rosamond Jones, MD, FRCPCH, retired Consultant Paediatrician, HART group
Dr Ayiesha Malik, MBChB, MRCGP(2014), Director, Doctors for Patients UK
Dr Elizabeth Evans, MA(Cantab), MBBS, DRCOG, CEO, UK Medical Freedom Alliance
Dr Clare Craig, BMBCh, FRCPath, Pathologist, Co Chair HART group
Additional signatories
Mr T James Royle, MBChB, FRCS, MMedEd, Colorectal Surgeon, Doctors for Patients UK
Mr Ian McDermott, MBBS, MS, FRCS(Tr&Orth), FFSEM(UK), Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon
Laura Brett, BSc Hons (Midwifery), former NHS midwife
Dr Geoffrey Maidment, MBBS, DRCOG, MD, FRCP, retired consultant physician
Dr Alistair J Montgomery, MBChB, MRCGP, DRCOG, retired General Practitioner
Dr Caroline Lapworth, MBChB, General Practitioner
Dr Gillian Breese, BSc, MBChB, DFFP, DTM&H, retired General Practitioner
Dr Sheena Fraser, MBChB, MRCGP (2003), Dip BSLM, General Practitioner
Dr Rachel Nicoll, PhD, Medical researcher
Kaira McCallum, BSc, retired pharmacist, Director of strategy UKMFA
Dr Scott McLachlan, MPhil(Sc), LLM, Lecturer, Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care (NMPC), King’s College London.
Dr Matthew Hicks, MBChB, NHS Specialty doctor
Dr Christine Suppelt, MD, FRCS, MFHom, Ophthalmic Surgeon & Specialist for Integrated Medicine
Dr Francesca Mbow, MD(Italy), MRCGP, DFFP, General Practitioner
Dr Julia Piper, FRCGP, BM BS, BMedSci, DFFP, AFMCP, DipOccMed, DipMedAcc
Dr Angela Musso, MD, MRCGP, DRCOG, FRACGP, MFPC, General Practitioner
Dr Charlie Sayer, MBBS, FRCR, Consultant Radiologist
Dr Jonathan Eastwood, BSc, MBChB, MRCGP, General Practitioner
Dr Stefanie Williams, MD, Dermatologist
Mr Angus Robertson, BSc(Med Sci), MBChB, FRCS(Ed), FFSEM(UK), Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon
Professor Roger Watson, FRCP Edin, Honorary Professor of Nursing, University of Hull
Dr Jon Rogers, MBChB(Bristol), MRCGP, DRCOG, Retired NHS General Practitioner
Rev Dr William J U Philip, MBChB, MRCP, BD, Senior Minister The Tron Church, Glasgow, formerly physician specialising in cardiology
Dr Kulvinder S Manik, MBChB, MRCGP(2010), MA(Cantab), LLM, Gray’s Inn
Dr Michael Bazlinton, MBCHB MRCGP DCH, General Practitioner
Julie Annakin, RN, Immunisation specialist nurse, retired
Dr Alan Mordue, MBChB, FFPH. Retired Consultant in Public Health Medicine & Epidemiology
Dr Branko Latinkic, BSc, PhD, Molecular Biologist, Biomedical Researcher
Dr Janet Menage, MA, MBChB, retired General Practitioner
Dr Thomas Carnwath, MBBCh,MA, FRCPsych, FRCGP, consultant psychiatrist
Professor Paul Goddard, MBBS, MD,FRCR,FBIR, retired Professor of Radiology, University of the West of England
Dr James Dyson, MRCS LRCP, MA, retired Medical Practitioner
Dr Cordelia Phelan, Consultant Pathologist
Professor David Livermore, BSc, PhD, Professorial Fellow/Retired Professor of Medical Microbiology, University of East Anglia
Helen Auburn, Dip ION, MBANT, CNHC, Registered Nutritional Therapist
James Cook, NHS Registered Nurse, Bachelor of Nursing (Hons), Master of Public Health (MPH)
Dr Tanya Klymenko, PhD, FHEA, FIBMS, Senior lecturer in Biomedical Sciences
Dr Peter Chan, BM, MRCS, MRCGP, NLP, General Practitioner, Functional medicine practitioner
Dr Emma Brierly, MBBS, MRCGP, General Practitioner
Dr Richard House, PhD, CPsychol, AFBPsS, CertCouns, Chartered Psychologist, former senior lecturer, retired psychotherapist
Ian Humphreys, UKMFA Programme Director
Victoria Rixon, Midwife, resigned
Luke Jezeph, BANT, CNM, Nutritional therapist
Sarah Waters, BA (Hons), MBACP, Family and Adult Psychotherapist
Dr David Critchley, BSc, PhD in Pharmacology, 32 years’ experience in Pharmaceutical R&D
Eshani King BSc (Hons) FCA CTA BFP - Evidence Based Research in Immunology and Health
Dr Richard Sills, Retired General Practitioner
Dr Bob Gill, MBChB, MRCGP, General Practitioner
Dr Felicity Lillingston, IMD DHS PhD ANP, Doctor, Urgent Care, Research Fellow
Dr Christopher Exley, PhD, FRSB, Bioinorganic Chemist
Sophie Gidet, RM, Midwife
Professor Angus Dalgleish, MD, FRCP, FRACP, FRCPath, FMedSci, Emeritus Professor of Oncology, University of London; Principal, Institute for Cancer Vaccines & Immunotherapy
Professor John Fairclough FRCS FFSEM retired Honorary Consultant Surgeon
Dr Rajia Bibi, MBBS, General Practitioner
Dr Christina Peers, MBBS, DRCOG, DFSRH, FFSRH, Menopause Specialist
Dr Ancha Bala-Joof BSc BSc MBChB MRCGP General Practitioner
Dr Andrew Bamji, FRCP, Retired Consultant Rheumatologist
Dr Richard J. O’Shea. MBBCh, BA(Hons) MRCGP, General Practitioner
Dr Rita Darby, General Practitioner
Dr Roland Salmon, MB BS, MRCGP, FFPH, Consultant Epidemiologist (retired), former Director, Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (Wales)
Dr Peter Hilton, Intensivist
Dr Christine Dewbury, MBBS, retired General Practitioner
Dr Keith Dewbury, MBBS, FRCR, retired Consultant Radiologist
Dr Elizabeth Burton, MB ChB, retired general practitioner
Dr Livia Tossici-Bolt, PhD, retired Clinical Scientist
Dr Noel Thomas, MA, MBChB, DObsRCOG, DTM&H, MFHom, Retired Doctor
Mr Ian F Comaish, MA, BMBCh, FRCOphth, FRANZCO, Consultant ophthalmologist
Dr Phuoc-Tan Diep, MBChB, FRCPath, Consultant Histopathologist
Dr Mark A Bell, MBChB, MRCP(UK), FRCEM, Consultant in Emergency Medicine
Dr Sarah Myhill, MBBS, Retired General Practitioner
Dr Ali Ajaz, MBBS, BSc, MRCPsych, PGCert, Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist
Dr Fernando M Gundin, MRCGP (2017), General Practitioner
Alex Hicks, MEng, MCIPS, Compliance Director (Supply Chain)
Natalie Stephenson, BSc (Hons) Paediatric Audiologist
Katherine MacGilchrist, BSc(Hons), MSc (Epidemiology), former CEO/Systematic Review Director, Epidemica Ltd.
Marco Tullio Suadoni, RN, BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing, MSc, Specialist Palliative Care Lead
Dr Elizabeth Corcoran MBBS iBSc Psychology MRCPsych
Dr Sam McBride, MBBCh, BAO, BSc, MSc, MRCP (UK) FRCEM, FRCP (Edinburgh), NHS Emergency Medicine & geriatrics
Dr Ian Bridges, MBBS, Retired general practitioner
Mr John Bunni, MBChB (Hons), Dip Lap Surg, FRCS [ASGBI Medal], Consultant Colorectal and General
Dr Henry Goodall, MBBS, FFOM, retired Consultant Occupational Health Physician, President of the Society of Occupational Medicine, 2011-12
Dr Jayne LM Donegan, MBBS, DRCOG, DCH, DFFP, MRCGP, Naturopathic Practitioner
Gayle Gerry, BSc(Hons), RGN, NHS registered Nurse
Dr Jessica Robinson, BSc(Hons), MBBS, MRCPsych, MFHom, Integrative Medicine Doctor
Dr Helen Westwood, MBChB, MRCGP, DCH, DRCOG, General Practitioner
'Medical censorship' seems such an inadequate way to describe the surreal disconnect between the UK's authoritarian medical soviet's three wise monkey impression when acting against decent honest grass roots Doctors on whom the humble hoi poloi like myself rely on and whom we trust with our lives.
The incredulous frustration in this letter indicates normal, healthy channels of dicussion are discouraged if not deliberately obfuscated by the 'elite'.
At some point I hope this is going to get legal as it appears the powers that be are not susceptible to logic, reason, intelligence.... and evidence.
How can we move forward to bring in better binding legal reform which allows whistleblowers to speak their mind, tell what they have witnessed, without deliberate character assassination and threat to job/work….
If one thing the Covid fiasco showed us, was the lack of knowledge and critical thinking skills of many and therefore how easy it is to control the mind with fear, repetitive programming, pre- think and censorship, all tied up with useful rhetoric of ‘experts’, anti vax, anti science, conspiracy theory, correlation is not causation etc etc….we are looking at a global problem of vested interests allowed too much control and wanting more.