Two elected governors of the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) have been dismissed after raising questions about alleged email tampering related to a whistleblowing case. The governors were initially suspended last summer pending an investigation into their conduct, and have now been dismissed after an external firm hired to review their conduct found that they had likely acted in a manner detrimental to the interests of the trust and possibly breached the Council of Governors Code of Conduct. The governors were suspended after questioning the trust’s account of a dispute with a whistleblower regarding the authenticity of emails. The trust claims that the suspensions were not related to concerns about the disputed emails but has not responded to questions about the cost of the investigation. One of the dismissed governors, Peter Duffy, who is also a former trust employee and whistleblower, expressed disappointment at the decision and accused the trust of dismissing them for simply doing their job. Another whistleblower, Sue Allison, resigned from the trust’s council of governors last summer over its handling of the emails dispute and treatment of whistleblowers. The trust maintains that its decision to dismiss the governors was in line with its constitution.
NHS Trust Fires Governors for Raises Doubts on Email Tampering Accusations
