habeas corpus - the case of missing Mr TH

Another missing man at the centre of this pernicious process. When I arrived this morning the waiting room was full of giggling women. It was as if they were out for a day's pleasure. The line manager, the line manager's line manager, and finally, the line manager's line manger's line manager (yes, another case from the NHS). Three women lining up to nail the coffin down of occupational therapist Mr TH.

The third in this happy parade was the one who submitted the complaint to the hpc. She did this about one or two years after Mr TH had left the employ of her team. Why? "he was a threat to public safety."

She spoke so quietly that I had to strain forward to hear her, so I stood up and moved forward to hear the rest of her statement. In the nano second it took for me to settle in the seat in front she was standing up and leaving. That was it! She had been called in order to recite this empty phrase! Bang, the final nail in the coffin.

At no point in this morning's proceedings did anyone mention what it was that he was doing with his patients that was such a threat. The entire discussion revolved around his note taking. The context of this is the computerisation of notes in the NHS - something which other occupational therapists are fed up about.

Why is it a threat to patient safety for Mr TH to not write notes according to the computer developers protocol? 'in case he doesn't come in and someone else has to take over his work'. (We're talking about occupational therapy remember.) Is there an example of the danger that ensued when he did not turn up for work (he went off sick, then resigned a few months after this witch hunt began). No, no examples. No examples at all in fact, all we had were vague generalisations and examples of his administrative skills: did he make a phone call, did he write a note. His work as an occupational therapist was absolutely absent from the case.

The line of questions that were presented to the witnesses got nowhere near uncovering any kind of truth. The three women were vague, one was verbose, and all were well versed in newspeak: 'got to get up to speed', 'golden rule is to keep accurate and up to date records', 'I did an audit of notes', 'a random selection of his files', 'there was insufficient detail', 'notes were vague'. No substantive content whatsoever in any of the three womens allegations. No sign of any patient in trouble, no whisper of any complaint from any of the people he worked with. None. Repeat: NONE.

Yet another case of people occupying positions of power in the New NHS who are blatantly unworthy of the responsibility on their shoulders. No gravitas, no experience, no compassion, no speech of their own, nothing to say except to mouth empty phrases that knock around like bricks doing random damage, no idea except to cover their backs. Not professional.

I wonder what the Panel will decide. Decision so far not posted.