Healthcare and dissent Brian Martin Vice President, Whistleblowers Australia Professor of Social Sciences, University of Wollongong
Hospital Imagine you are a nurse and discover that radiotherapy patients haven’t received enough radiation.
Health products company Imagine you are an executive and discover massive financial fraud.
Health insurance Imagine you are a health insurance auditor and discover systemic fraud.
What would you do?
Five options 1. Join in 2. Do nothing: just watch 3. Report the problem; speak out 4. Leak information about it 5. Try to change the system
Five possible roles 1. Participant 2. Bystander 3. Whistleblower 4. Leaker 5. Activist, change agent
Role 1: participant
Role 2: bystander
We are all bystanders — on some issues
Role 3: whistleblower – someone who informs authorities or the public about a problem
Some unfamiliar ideas about whistleblowing Whistleblowing isn’t snitching/dobbing. Some people blow the whistle unintentionally. Many whistleblowers are conventional and conservative. Laws don’t protect whistleblowers. Official procedures don’t work.
Fred Gulson
Cynthia Kardell
Jean Lennane
What often happens 1: cover-up Matters are not reported. Evidence is destroyed. Eyewitnesses do not come forward.
What often happens 2: denigration of the whistleblower Rumours Referral to psychiatrists Public attacks
What often happens 3: contrary stories Unsympathetic interpretations are placed on disclosures. Innocent-sounding explanations are given for reprisals against whistleblowers.
What often happens 4: failure of official channels Official bodies do not respond. Official bodies undertake superficial investigations. Official bodies delay action. Official bodies focus on technicalities.
What often happens 5: intimidation Whistleblowers are threatened, ostracised, harassed, reprimanded, transferred, demoted, dismissed and blacklisted.
How to avoid being destroyed Go public. Be respectable, calm, rational. Stick to your main message. Avoid formal procedures if possible. Instead, build alliances Refuse to be intimidated. Reduce your vulnerability. Choose the right opportunity to act.
Role 4: leaker
Daniel Ellsberg
Bradley/ Chelsea Manning
Edward Snowden
Advantages of leaking (for the leaker) • There is less risk of reprisals. You remain in the job (and can do more leaking). The focus is more on the issue, not the messenger.
Disadvantages of leaking • Leaks lack the credibility of a personal witness. • Leaked information may put people at risk or undermine policy-making. • Workplace trust is damaged by the leak and/or by a search for leakers.
Role 5: activist; change agent
Hospital Imagine you are a nurse and discover that radiotherapy patients haven’t received enough radiation.
Health products company Imagine you are an executive and discover massive financial fraud.
Health insurance Imagine you are a health insurance auditor and discover systemic fraud.
Hope for the future Whistleblowing has been named. Whistleblower protection mechanisms raise expectations. More information is available. Support groups exist.