Charlotte Leslie (Bristol North West) (Con)

- Hansard -

I rise to present a petition on behalf of care whistleblower and former care assistant Eileen Chubb, who has fought a long and valiant campaign for justice for whistleblowers and for compassion in our care homes. She believes that current protections for whistleblowers have failed and that there is an urgent need to replace the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 with legislation that properly protects those who speak out.

The petition states:

The Petition of Eileen Chubb of the Bupa 7 whistleblowers, and Director and Founder of the charity Compassion in Care,

Declares that following the Petition of 15 July 2004, in which the Petitioner urged the former government to address the failures of the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA), the response was one of ‘No comment’; further that the House should note the report “Breaking the Silence: Part 1”, which is available via www.compassionincare.com and contains evidence of 1500 whistle-blowers who have been failed by PIDA and that the information contained in this report is a damning indictment of any civilised country; and that the Petitioner believes that the report shows that recent changes to PIDA will be entirely ineffective as will the recommendations of the Francis Inquiry.

The Petitioner therefore requests that the House of Commons urge the Government to take action by considering the evidence submitted in the report and replace PIDA before any more needless suffering and loss of life occurs.

And the Petitioners remain, etc.

[P001283]