There is an interesting study about whistleblowers being treated differently after they had raised concerns.http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/hro/news/1153640/half-of-whistleblowers-treated-differently-after-speaking-out . For me, it started by a malicious email from a fellow colleagues at North Staffordshire NHS Trust who despite being warned by the police, now works as vascular surgeon in the NHS. He alleged that my poetry - forgetting I had won prizes for them - was evidence I was mentally ill. Elements of this was then circulated without control into a doctors forum. It then circulated and was picked up by the GMC who famously embarrassed itself by admitting in open court that the high water mark of mental illness was a typo I had made in letter to them. Libel writs flew and as no one had a leg to stand on, these cases settled. This did not mean the tittle tattle stopped. Cases don't stop tittle tattle from the narrow minded. This pattern of club tittle tattle and free flowing hatred occurs in groups of people who don't sit and think clearly about what they are doing. The point of litigating against the Grand GMC is to demonstrate that just sometimes even the most junior of doctors with nothing to the name can stand up and put up a good fight against the heavies of state machinery . I think the GMCs greatest regret is that it never managed to push me into a state of mental ill health. Ofcourse, one is aware of their pitiful immature petulant methods tantamount to psychological warfare. I think the greatest problem not only with the medical profession but with authorities is they never read. Reading is a great skill for people with good intelligence levels. I think many are of the view that there must have been more to the above but there really wasn't anymore. No smoke without fire perhaps. Ofcourse, when the smoke is purposely created for a full blown fire to suit the establishments interests, then there is a serious problem with medicine. When reports vindicating my whistleblowing were unearthed by me and publicised, there was a fair bit of silence. People treat you differently due to the stigma of an false illness you are labeled with. It gives them some satisfaction to brush away the important patient safety concerns in favour of accepting something that has no basis. I think to accept that I have a good level of intelligence and experience is somehow difficult for doctors. After all whistleblowers can't possibly be still standing after overcoming a number of obstacles. Rob Francis QC made sure we were all deemed pitiful victims not people of strength or intelligence. I don't think I'm the only whistleblower with the above treatment. I merely fight against it and expose it where as others would simply sink with the onslaught. I can't say my own profession has ever been kind but then I don't rely on them for acceptance or friendship. I know them for who they are, individuals who are protective of their own status and will not associate publicly with a whistleblower. I think it's wrong to treat whistleblowers with contempt but I also think one cannot expect much of a profession who aren't really trained with emotional intelligence. If my medical friends from medical school ever read this, they should remember I forgave them for their weakness as human beings a long time ago and wished them well. Sadly, I don't believe the medical profession's cliquey self will change at all. Certainly not until we start selecting better quality human beings from medical school. I wrote to Professor Graeme Catto recently about Dr Sheila Mann, I told him had she done her job at the GMC and been kinder , fate would have been kinder to her. Perhaps she wouldn't have died of Alzheimer's, a bona fide IC10 code diagnosis. She caused endless hard work, a stigma I was never able to shake off despite the GMCs apology. She caused a ripple effect that turned my life as a junior doctor upside down. I may have forgiven her but fate was less kind. Let that be a lesson to all those who believe in treating whistleblowers like pariahs. You arent immune to the perils that bad luck and life has in store. Treat your colleagues with kindness and never judge them until you have the courage to walk in their path. That's the message to anyone in medicine who respects what the profession stands for. There is a difference between the medical establishment and the profession itself. The profession is all about empathy, kindness, humanity and the bravery to stand by your colleagues and by the truth. The medical establishment is about self preservation of reputation to be achieved any cost.