Hospital whistleblower reinstated

A "whistleblower" who was dismissed from her post as a trainee advocate after publicly expressing concern for the welfare of female patients at St Brendan's Hospital in Grangegorman has been reinstated.

Louise Bayliss, a single mother from Dublin who had been training as an advocate with the Irish Advocacy Network, will resume training but will not be permitted back into hospital wards until her training is complete.

She will also be required to comply fully with the network’s code of practice which states advocates must raise any concern with their immediate superior first, and they must not take action including speaking out publicly, unless asked to do so by the network or a patient.

Following public and political disquiet at Ms Bayliss’s dismissal last Tuesday, the network yesterday offered to reinstate her.

In early December she spoke on RTÉ's Liveline, drawing attention to the closure of an "open" unit for female patients in St Brendan's Hospital over Christmas, the separation of the patients from each other over the holiday period and their consequent distress.

She was removed from ward work some days later and was last week told as there were insufficient resources to finish her training she was being let go.

TDs Joe Costello, Richard Boyd Barrett and Derek Keating were among those who called for her reinstatement.

Today, Colette Nolan, chief executive of the network, said: “After more in-depth and intensive consultation with colleagues in the organisation over the last few days we realise we made an error in this regard.”

A spokeswoman explained in recent years trainee advocates were also working on the wards “to fill gaps in our service provision” due to “pressure” on the organisation.

“Having thought about it IAN concluded it was not her [Ms Bayliss's] fault she breached the code of conduct. She didn’t actually know and she under the old training model shouldn’t have been on the wards. So the network is going back to old model where it’s all completed in a classroom setting.”

A new training programme would be put in place from the end of February.

Ms Bayliss said she was “delighted” to get her job back though would not want it with “undue restrictions” on her.

“I’m delighted IAN has taken this decision. I look forward to working with them long-term and I hope it will be a healthy and a constructive relationship for both of us

“What was done to me was wrong but what was wrong but what was done to the patients is an awful lot worse.”

Whistleblower support organisation Transparency International Ireland, said Ms Bayliss’s case was “only the tip of the iceberg”.

Chief executive John Devitt said: “We have been receiving calls from whistleblowers who have been dismissed for raising concerns about everything from patient safety to fraud."

He called on all employers to promote whistleblowing at work and on the Government to introduce a whistleblower law that would protect workers.