NHS 'whistle blowers' need a safe way to expose bad practice without jeopardising their careers, Unite, the largest union in the country, said. Unite was commenting on the case of nurse Margaret Haywood struck off for secretly filming neglect of elderly patients in a hospital for BBC's Panorama programme. Unite's National Officer for Health, Karen Reay said that the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) 'appeared to be somewhat heavy handed' in striking Ms Haywood off the register.

She said: 'There is a balance to be had between privacy and confidentiality of patients, and the wider issue being highlighted.'

'We can't have a culture where 'whistle blowers' feel intimated into not legitimately reporting wrong doing and bad practice in the NHS. We need a safe environment for 'whistle blowers' who feel that they can complain without losing their livelihood.'

'There appears to be a number of extenuating circumstances in the case of Margaret Haywood and the NMC could have imposed a lesser punishment than that of being struck off.'

'The NMC exists as a regulatory body to protect patients and clients first and foremost, and not the alleged failings of members of the nursing profession in caring for the elderly.'

Unite is the largest union in the UK. It has seven professional sections: the Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association, the Mental Health Nurses Association, the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists, the Society of Sexual Health Advisers, the Medical Practitioners' Union, College of Healthcare Chaplains, and the Hospital Physicists Association.

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