This is a curious interview with Prof Ellis. http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/18/harold-ellis-surgeon-nhs-whistleblowers-suspension-bullying-never-happened For those who don't know him, he is a big wig in surgery and we all spent hours revising from his books before surgical exams. I must say his books are great but I'm a bit puzzled why he is so surprised that whistleblowers are treated badly. After all, the Bristol Inquiry was the biggest independent whistleblowing inquiry to have hit the surgical establishment. Yet, he makes no mention of it. The Shipman whistleblower is all but forgotten yet he makes no mention of that either. It's as if life was rosy until recently. Well, while he puts the blame in many places, the real blame lies in the culture these elderly men created. Some sit in the House of Lords creating legislation like the Medical Act so the GMC can sweep up any renegade doctors and others guard their own interests. Others try and create an image that whistleblower reprisal is a new thing. Well, its not. It's an age old method of character assassination developed by the elders in our profession. My surgical mentor was none other than Professor Elder, a grandee of the profession. When you are being told to keep quiet about patient safety issues by the most senior in the profession, then there is a serious problem. The same trait was seen in Professor Temple. He gave me a job in exchange for my silence. He gave me a counselling card as well which I threw in his bin. I hope one day he will pick the card up and ask himself why it was I who raised the alarm about patient safety when it was actually his job to have ensured patients were safe years before I arrived. As many have seen, I didn't really give a damn about keeping promises for men who were part of the problem. These men are old now, even age has not taught them the wisdom of right and wrong. One day though, they will learn that some of us never bow down to those who have failed the real art of medicine. They all got lost somewhere between money, reputation and false status. Well, I didn't get lost and neither did many other good doctors. Perhaps we just didn't care for the influences that fail medicine in England today. Even worse for them, in the end we never even recognised or valued their authority. It is these grand old men of medicine who should apologise to evidence based whistleblowers for failing us over the years. Ofcourse, that kind of insight requires people who are real and those with the strength to accept they were all wrong. These traits will always be absent from those who serve the establishment and not the public. .................................. Finally, on another important different but related point, I think the Royal College of Surgeons can commence independence by refusing to accept donation from the freemasonry fraternity. I don't see any reason why the Royal College should by accepting such monetary gifts in these days of fairness and transparency. Perhaps Prof Ellis would kindly consider raising this issue. http://www.freemasonrytoday.com/news/tag/Royal%20College%20of%20Surgeons As everyone knows, I love reading Freemasonry Today. It's a bit like reading Hello and OK but with longer sentences. Have a good weekend.