The Scottish Executive has been urged to intervene in the row over the running of the cash-strapped Western Isles Health Board amid repeated allegations of bullying, intimidation and financial mismanagement.
The Health Minister, Andy Kerr, has been asked by SNP MSP Rob Gibson to bring forward an inspection of the board as a matter of urgency as he faces possible industrial action over the claims.
The move comes after a raft of complaints about alleged bullying, an overspend believed to be up to £4m and the excessive expenses of managers who commute to Lewis from homes on the mainland. The executive has previously dismissed requests for an inquiry into the running of the board.
Last week officials were also facing questions about the board's payments to a GP who serves the isle of Barra and four other islands. The Observer revealed last Sunday that GP David Bickle's practice on Barra will receive £300,000 this year, making him one of the best-paid doctors in Britain. Bickle, who said he was trying to find another doctor to share the practice and the earnings, was abroad last week and not available for comment, but the board initially issued a statement saying that he had been the 'victim of a hoax' and an April Fool's joke that went wrong. The board later retracted this statement.
Dr Michie, the board's medical director for community services, said circum-stances would change once Bickle found a partner for the practice. 'Normally this is a two-doctor practice, but since January this year one doctor left.'
The board, which runs services across a large stretch of Scotland, has been facing problems for several months. Earlier this year the three main unions representing staff - Unison, Amicus and the Royal College of Nursing - called for a vote of no confidence in chairman David Currie, chief executive Dick Manson and medical director Dr John Smith.
Last week Gibson, MSP for the Highlands and Islands, said there was still a climate of fear and suspicion among staff and urged the health minister to bring forward an annual review of the board.
'There has been no intervention from the outside to deal with the collective grievances of hundreds of staff in the NHS in the Western Isles who feel completely alienated by the actions of the so-called gang of three.'
However, Kerr rejected the calls to intervene, telling parliament that such matters were not resolved 'by ministers flying in and saying you must fix this', but by people sitting down and talking maturely about the challenges they faced. Gibson pointed to the government's intervention into Tayside health board in the late Nineties and said such action was essential to 'clean out the stables' and move forward.
Ken Matthews, Unison's regional organiser for the Highlands and Islands, said representatives were waiting for details of a final action plan from senior management before deciding on future action.
A spokesman for Western Isles Health Board said steps to resolve some of the continuing problems had been taken, adding that a final action plan was expected this week.
'Consultations are going on between senior management and other partners to finalise this action plan which addresses many of the issues raised,' he said. 'Once this is done there will be a meeting between senior management and the unions to discuss the way ahead.'
An unscrupulous 'hoax' that tried to hide the truth
The island of Barra is not accustomed to controversy, being one of the quietest and most idyllic spots in the British Isles, but last week saw it shaken by a row involving its single-handed GP, David Bickle.
Bickle had spoken to The Observer the previous week and explained why his practice was on course to earn £300,000 this year - a fact that was particularly salient, given the current discussion about GPs' salaries.
I spoke to him on the telephone after joining a discussion about salaries on the web-based medical forum Doctors.net, where he had posted a message about his income. We spoke about the demands of his practice - he provides 24-hour care across five islands on the Western Isles - and the fact that a series of financial contracts have worked in his favour. The most important point was that, since his partner left last year, he has tried in vain to find a young doctor who would share the work and the salary.
The Western Isles Health Board, the organisation which pays him, were very unhappy with the story, because it suggested, in its eyes, that money was being squandered. So, instead of checking with us about what was said or not, they put out a statement suggesting that Bickle had been the victim of a cruel hoax, that someone else had posted a message on Doctors.net and played a joke on him. As the doctor was on holiday abroad, other newspapers following up our story were not able to check this out.
The board has now admitted to us that Bickle never told them he was the victim of a hoax or that the figure was wrong. It simply issued the statement to 'help' him, according to its press officer. But, of course, this denial has helped it out at a time when it is facing accusations of financial mismanagement. It is absolutely wrong for any health authority to behave in so unscrupulous a manner and to imply that we would be taken in by a hoaxer without checking the facts.
