A GP has claimed he was “blacklisted” by senior NHS Highland managers for being a perceived troublemaker.
Dr Robbie Coull is currently at Strachur Medical Practice in Argyll, but his claim dates back more than a decade ago while he was working as a locum at a practice in Wick.
At the time there was some turmoil within the health service in the north, with many critics believing the health board was attempting to close Caithness General Hospital “by stealth” by reducing services.
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Polish locum paediatricians were also at the centre of controversy.
Dr Coull said, following an incident involving a sick baby, he started raising concerns about safety at Caithness General in 2003.
He was then accused shortly afterwards of not responding to a complaint fast enough, a claim he denied.
The GP said: “There was a culture of senior managers not liking being questioned and resorting to bullying.
“I was being seen as a potential troublemaker in Wick, which they did not like.
“I was then made aware that managers had been sent an email saying not to offer me any locum work within NHS Highland.”
Dr Coull, who had worked across the Highlands and Islands with his wife for years, eventually left NHS Highland and went on to work in Canada for three-and-a-half years.
He returned to Scotland in 2011 to work for the NHS in Argyll, part of which later merged with NHS Highland.
He said: “There seemed to be a change in culture when new managers were brought in before and around that time.
“The issue has been quite a boil that has been going on for quite some time.
“It is good that new whistleblowers have decided to make public what has been going on.”
An NHS Highland spokeswoman said: “We are not able to comment on the relationship with individual locum doctors dating back more than 15 years as the organisational memory does not exist.”
‘Woe is me’
Union chiefs have accused the NHS Highland board of having a “woe is me attitude” over the bullying scandal.
More than 100 people have come forward after a group of whistle-blowing doctors last month made allegations of a “severe bullying culture” by senior management.
Claims relating to severe anxiety disorders, depressive illnesses and suicidal ideas have been highlighted to the group.
The board as a whole recently issued a statement, saying it “feels like NHS Highland is being publicly torn apart”.
GMB Scotland regional officer Liz Gordon said: “Under the governance of Elaine Mead, NHS Highland has silenced voices of concern for years.
“Voices of nurses, administrators, support staff along with many others, including clinicians.
“We have not claimed that everyone is bullied, but we can evidence that there is a bullying culture permeating NHS Highland.
“This ‘woe is me’ attitude from the Board is not constructive. They could choose to join us in calling for an independent public enquiry, it’s their choice.”
The board, in their statement, said: “We all joined the board of NHS Highland because we care very much about the NHS and the services we provide for the people of the Highlands.
“For the four doctors to make a public claim that ‘a thread of cruelty has purposefully been spun throughout NHS Highland’ simply cannot go unchallenged.
“We feel sure that everyone who cares about the NHS will share the view that our patients, staff and public deserve better and we are calling on everyone to make their voice heard.”
