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I blew the whistle (under the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) 1998) with regards to false and misleading information about "Vaccines for children" on our charity's website, www.cerebralpalsyscotland.org.uk, but my concern was dismissed instantly by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), without her even bothering to read my email fully.  Instead she threatened me with "I am warning you Filip, there will be a clash". I responded with: "I am sorry, Stephanie, but ethically I cannot be silent about this: this concerns children." Stephanie repeated that "there would be a clash". When I checked with her whether this was a threat, she said: "No, I am telling you this as a friend.." [this is my 'boss' remember.. I do not consider my boss to be a friend i.e. I was kind of surprised she considered me a friend because apart from sharing a workplace and both liking chocolate cake we have just about nothing in common..] She continued: "I do not want to see you not working here.."!

So my only option - as suggested by my CEO herself - was to progress this to the Board of Directors (Trustees) of our charity, which I did. Two days later all 11 Trustees of Cerebral Palsy Scotland received my grievance including my whistleblowing email which I had sent to my CEO, therapy colleagues and a colleague responsible for our web content. The Chairman, Mr Ian Johnstone, emailed me straight back, stating that he would convene a meeting with all Board members the following Tuesday after which he would get back to me. I waited for a response but received no phonecall, no text, no email for a week..

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Now a full two weeks since my disclosure, I went into work the following Tuesday morning (I do not work on a Monday) and found myself unable to log in to our network.. I then receive a phonecall from my CEO (who was working from home seemingly) stating that I should have received an email from Ian, the chairman of the Board, on my home email address.. She double-checked my home email address and told me to check my junk folder. I asked: "What's going on? Am I being suspended?!" "No, but you have to go home and find and read that email." "Ok, so am I working from home then?" "No, because you will have no access to your emails or any files." "So.., I am being suspended?" "No, but you have been asked to stay at home whilst they investigate your conduct." "Sorry?" "The Board have asked for you to stay at home because they are investigating your conduct." "What? Where did this come from? Has someone raised a concern about me?" "I can't tell you anymore just now, you have to go home and read your email or I will get Ian to re-send the email to you." "So I am being suspended?" "No, but you have been asked to stay at home. We had a meeting on Tuesday and the Board decided that you were to stay at home whilst they investigate your conduct." "So.. you were in on the meeting which concerned.. you? Thanks for that, Stephanie. That is noted!" SILENCE.. "So, you have to go home now and read that email.." "Ok.. It sounds like I am being suspended for raising a concern about children's safety.. I don't think that is lawful.." "You have not been suspended. But you have to go home now. And go and read that email"..

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The email that I subsequently found which was re-sent to me later that morning you can read in full here. But basically I was being suspended on the back of raising a grievance. You can even see in the email how the last paragraph is in a different font as it suddenly switches from dismissing my concern as 'completely without merit' to me being investigated for my professional conduct. They contacted my employer, The Bobath Centre, who declined to take the matter further! So thus they proceeded to contact my regulatory body, the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC), to investigate my conduct on their behalf.

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This is how I responded to Mr Johnstone's response later that night: My response to Ian Johnstone's response to my grievance whistleblowing 17 August 2021.
And this is my grievance sent to the CEO of my employer, The Bobath Centre, about my grievance whistleblowing!: Grievance grievance whistleblowing 17 August 2021
I will upload all relevant email communication in PDF format under "Relevant materials" under the submenu "Emails".

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Read under "My resignation" how the saga continues..
 

There is more.. The CEO of Cerebral Palsy Scotland, Fraser of Craigmaddie, entered the House of Lords in January of this year and became a Baroness. She told me during the second half of last year when this opportunity came up, that this was too good to miss, but that she would not need to and would not actually take an "active" role in the House of Lords until later in her life, as she currently was full-time CEO.. I guess she lied, because she became rather active rather quickly: you can find her voting record and contributing speeches online. She also became a member (one of 12, though currently 11) of the Covid-19 Committee of the House of Lords in June of this year.
I asked the question: "Is there a conflict of interest here?" "Is this why our website has "Vaccines for children" plastered on its front page?" (even though we do not endorse any other medical product or even therapy equipment) Then came the crux.. TBC!

 

My concern is obviously in the public interest as it concerns health and safety of children. It is quite a unique story in some ways, though I know that I am far from alone in this. There are a huge amount of whistleblowers indeed, a lot of brave doctors and nurses, therapists, funeral directors and more. I do not consider myself a brave physio but will always stand up for and protect children in particular. In effect this is what I wrote at the end of me appealing against the written outcome of my (“1st”) grievance (the 2nd grievance was never dealt with..):

My concern is obviously in the public interest as it concerns health and safety of children. It is quite a unique story in some ways, though I know that I am far from alone in this. There are a huge amount of whistleblowers indeed, a lot of brave doctors and nurses, therapists, funeral directors and more. I do not consider myself a brave physio but will always stand up for and protect children in particular. In effect this is what I wrote at the end of me appealing against the written outcome of my (“1st”) grievance (the 2nd grievance was never dealt with..):

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You can push me down, you can kick me in the teeth, you can ridicule me, you can investigate my unblemished professional conduct, you can try and inject or poison me, you can cover my mouth, nose, face, you can try to gag me. But I will not be silent, I will keep getting back up & stand up to protect the more vulnerable.

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See here my video about my suspension:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ76yFGNrwg