Severance payments cost 28.4 million pounds pa

In the UK when the health system wants to prevent a person from remaining employed there are two approaches www.nao.org (1.4) informal arrangement or "gardening leave" and formal suspensions which arise from questions of personal conduct, professional conduct, or professional competence...rarely perceived as neutral, and adversely effects a practitioners career and reputation, even when exonerated.  Julie Fagan and Craig Longstaff write about suspensions at www.suspension-nhs.org and writes "Mr. Supperstone favours to restrain a dismissal but views suspension as a neutral act pressuring the employment relationship."  Suspensions stops a person from working and the pressure is then on the individual not the organization not the other way around neither is it neutral!  Julie Fagan wrote to Lord Warner, then Minister of State, Dep. of Health in July '05 giving an account of how a nurse was suspended after registering a formal complaint against his employer for unsafe conditions on the ward.  The day after he was suspended a co-worker was killed by a disturbed patient due to the hazardous conditions he warned the authorities about.
Julie writes the costs for nursing suspensions is twenty-five to fifty million pounds per year.
Professor Wendy Savage is quoted in the NAO report on the cost of exclusions: "The loss of my job was like a bereavement.  Powerful, confusing and shifting emotions swept over me - disbelief (can this really be happening) sadness, guilt, self-doubt and anger."
Sect. 15 - That the purpose of the investigation is to ascertain the facts in an unbiased manner and not to secure evidence against the practitioner (as is done.)
The NAO recommends that all parties need to be confident that the process is fair, open and transparent, and the Department of Health (DoH) has a key role to play in encouraging local trust management to establish an open culture for reporting and examining clinical incidents and promoting organizational learning.
Severence Payments
On the NAO site under press releases there is information about confidentiality clauses and special severance payments, which costs 28.4 million pounds per year which has been highlighted as a concern for public spending but find a government department to take responsibility for collecting and controlling this data is lacking.  If a clinician signs a confidentiality clause he/she then is given a reference for future employment.  If the clinician refuses to sign the employer refuses to give a reference, in short blocking alternative employment.  Clinicians report that they felt "gagged" through signing the confidentiality agreement

1. Nurses in the UK, US and else where face the same challenges when faced with an investigation/disciplinary process.  It is important for politicians and consumers (tax payers) to become aware of the cost that the licensing boards put on the public in order to protect them.  Indeed, the NAO reports (2.12) that in the majority of cases, patient safety was not at issue...  Please contact your State Representative or MP and share the NAO Report to Parliament with them and ask them to consider further audits.  The Office of Inspector General has a list of those excluded from practice with Medicare and Medicaid patients but I could not find any audits about the cost of these exclusions.  Ask your State Representative if they know of any audits and please share this information with me and request audits to analyse the impact on taxpayers.

My hope was that politicians would show interest out of compassion for those who are unable to earn a living due to the investigation/disciplinary process, however I believe they might be more motivated by the cost inherent in the process and to examine how to monitor and speed up the process as the NAO has outlined in their report.
My very best wishes go to all who are undergoing state board discipline and that you will:
Gain spiritually through meditation, vegetarian diet and ethical living
Be motivated and feel supported to research and find the legal representation that you need
Link with other nurses through www.MeetUp.com to share/support but remember not to discuss details about your case except with your attorney
Call the 24/7 hotline 504-621-1670 - Dr. Willner's service The Center for Peer Review Jusice www.peerreview.org
Plan ahead by exploring career options.  Network through www.eWomenNetwork.com or other networking sites in your area
Your thoughts are key to how your feel and react to your circumstances.  Keep a daily journal and note any negative thoughts and how you felt (where in your body did you experience the pain/shift?).  It's hard to have a happy day when you drain yourself with negative thoughts.  www.values.com A website for positive quotes: "Your thoughts, words and deeds are painting the world around you."  Jewell Diamond Taylor