A whistleblower at the U.K.'s National Health Service was fired after threatening to talk -- and finally talking -- about a vast trove of x-ray films his hospital had stashed unread in hallways and closets for years.
The Observer of London reported on July 30 that radiologist Dr. Otto Chan was suspended and accused of professional misconduct in January 2005, then dismissed in June, after years of complaining about the unread images.
Chan has disputed his dismissal for alleged misconduct, so far to no avail. But his case is gaining momentum, and may now be investigated by the U.K. Healthcare Commission, which examines patient safety issues.
X-ray films belonging to more than 100,000 patients at Royal London Hospital were stored in cardboard boxes that lined a hospital corridor for years, according to the Observer report, because the hospital had neither the staff nor the funds to interpret them all. On one occasion all of the records were reportedly stashed in a storage room right before an official inspection team was to arrive.
As the number of film packets grew to about 15,000 in 2002, Chan threatened to go public with the information unless each film was read and reported, which occurred at the end of 2002, the newspaper reported. But another 15,000 packets of film built up between 2003 and 2004. Except for the chest x-rays, this second batch of films has never been read by radiologists, according to the article.
Chan threatened to sue after his suspension, so the NHS conducted an internal investigation. He was told on June 7 that he had been dismissed.
In its defense, the hospital stated that the dismissal for gross misconduct had nothing to do with the unread images, adding that they were from patients with the lowest clinical risk, according to the article. With the implementation of digital imaging and electronic recordkeeping this summer, all new records will be computerized, according to the hospital.
Meanwhile, Chan is fighting the dismissal decision.
"I believe I was sacked because I was marked out as a whistleblower and a troublemaker, and that's because I refused to accept that thousand of films lying jumbled up in a corridor constituted good patient care," Chan told The Observer.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
August 4, 2006
Copyright © 2006 AuntMinnie.com
