A report from the Sunday Mercury; Birmingham (UK)
A doctor turned NHS whistleblower has revealed her regret at going public with claims of patient abuse at Midland hospitals.
Psychiatrist Rita Pal, from Sutton Coldfield, says her career was 'assassinated' after she made allegations that seriously ill elderly patients were being helped to die by NHS staff.
Dr Pal, 36, presented a dossier of evidence to the General Medical Council but it questioned her sanity - and discussed launching an inquiry into whether she was Wt to practise.
She was later awarded a lucrative settlement against the regulatory body and is still pursuing legal action against it.
Yet Dr Pal has now been banned from practising medicine after the GMC ruled she is no longer registered as a medical practitioner 'for administrative reasons'.
The psychiatrist says she regrets ever speaking out.
"Whistleblowing doesn't work," she told the Sunday Mercury.
"It has cost me an awful lot, my career is assassinated but that's the price I paid.
"It is a long and lonely road, and in the end, I'm left wondering if it was worth it."
Dr Pal said she was first branded a troublemaker soon after beginning her career.
"Fresh out of medical school in 1998, I started work at North Staffordshire Hospital as a house officer continuing my training," Dr Pal recalled.
"It was very intense, with 120-hour weeks, but I had no problems for the first three months.
"Then I was moved to a ward for elderly and emergency patients. I faced an emergency with a patient and there wasn't the basic equipment there.
"I was able to stabilise the patient but phoned the nursing director to say more staff and more equipment was needed as basic care wasn't been met.
"This didn't go down well.
"Other doctors had suffered with poor facilities but no-one ever raised concerns. Patients kept dying and no-one was doing anything."
Dr Pal's outspoken concerns brought her further anxiety.
"I then found myself in a complete nightmare," she said.
"Two weeks later I was accused of disposing of a needle on a day when I wasn't even on the ward. It's a criminal offence under health and safety to dispose of a needle.
"I faced a hearing where I represented myself, and the chargeswere dropped. But I'd already got a name for myself as a 'trouble-maker'.
"The pressure on me to leave was awful and I was advised to move into general practice.
"I moved to Birmingham to do surgery but I had no references and 'whistleblowing' follows you around.
"In 2000, I contacted a newspaper about the elderly patients who were being neglected and worse, being given drugs that hasten death.
"I thought if I raised concerns about healthcare, conditions would at least improve.
"I've had 10 years of fighting for accountability - I feel let down by the NHS.
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