In a hugely significant victory, Dr Chris Day has won whistleblowing protection for all junior doctors. Chris has bravely stood his ground in a case that has serious ramifications across the NHS and built up a community of thousands of CrowdJustice backers who have supported him every step of the way.
The case
Dr Day blew the whistle on dangerous staffing levels at an Intensive Care Unit in 2014. He suffered detrimental effects, and took his case to the Employment Tribunal. The tribunal decided that there were no whistleblowing protections for junior doctors against Health Education England (HEE). He started crowdfunding to appeal against this decision.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal found against Dr Day, so he took his case to the Court of Appeal. This time he was successful, the court decided that the Employment Tribunal needed to reconsider its judgment.
Having won the hearing at the Court of Appeal, Dr Day's case was sent back to the London South Employment Tribunal. Eventually, on 14th May, HEE conceded that junior doctors do have whistleblowing protection.
Dr Day has been fighting this battle for more than three and a half years. His career has been derailed, he has faced widespread criticism, and he has been let down by institutions that are meant to protect him.
Chris said, "as a result of exposing and trying to solve this government made gap in whistleblowing law I have been attacked, lied about and undermined by senior leaders in the medical profession."
With the kind support and encouragement of his family, friends and thousands of others who donated to his crowdfunding efforts, he has been able to continue fighting for the rights of junior doctors. Chris would like to thank his backers; "this victory would not have been possible without our crowdfunders who have given us much more than just money to enable this victory".
What next?
Now that HEE have conceded that junior doctors do have whistleblowing protection, Dr Day can take them to the Employment Tribunal over their actions in 2014 when he blew the whistle on dangerous staffing levels in a South London Intensive Care Unit.
For more information on the legal significance of this decision, here is the Press Release from Dr Day’s lawyer, Tim Johnson.
If you're interested in the specifics of the argument laid out yesterday, take a look at Dr Day’s skeleton argument.