www.news-alliance.com

NHS COVER-UP AND DIRTY TRICKS BLOWN OUT OF THE WATER BY INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST SIMON R SMITH

Extracted from Chapter 11, Counter Spy

www.nhsexposed.com

After being released from prison, I wrote to my former GP, Dr Kelvin Lim immediately to explain fully what had happened at HMP Nottingham and also asked him to help me ascertain the name of the male nurse who deprived me of my inhaler, gave me an empty one in return and refused me a replacement and tried to frame me as being mentally ill. In the event Dr Lim refused to help me and explained somewhat limply that “NHS prison staff are so transient that he’s probably moved on already. Forget about it.” A ‘nurse’ tried to frame me as being mentally ill and did his utmost to ensure I suffered a serious, possibly even fatal asthma attack by depriving me of my lifeline, and I was supposed to “forget” it ever happened and move on.

Dr Lim, of Foxes Close in Nottingham, also showed his true colours by refusing to write to Judge Stokes to demand an explanation from him regarding the so-called conspiracy I was alleged to have been involved in with Dr Lim. In fact this so-called ‘doctor’ refused point blank even to defend his ‘professional’ integrity against the slurs on his character made by Judge Stokes. It was perfectly clear to me that Dr Kelvin Lim had been turned and had lost his nerve. Arguably, he was preoccupied with the administration of his growing business interests by profiting from pensioners at his Nottingham nursing home.

I then issued a formal complaint to the Governor of HMP Nottingham and received no response. Indeed, it took several weeks of waiting before I reiterated my complaint. Jan McFarland, clinical lead at HMP Nottingham wrote back to me denying everything and I was not in the least surprised. They were hardly likely to admit such serious offences and clear beaches of duty of care. But McFarland unwittingly did admit that I was denied an inhaler until the 3 May 2006.

I have consulted two doctors and both agree that I could not have managed any longer than 16 hours without an inhaler. HMP Nottingham staff expected me to last 36 hours without an inhaler, during which time I would have suffered a serious asthma attack and likely have died. The headline then would have been: Mentally ill man dies after refusing to take his inhaler. Fortunately, I was not stupid enough to be conned into signing the discharge notice when I was admitted to the prison.

The complaint was then progressed to the Nottingham City NHS PCT, HMP Nottingham had rejected my complaint and more importantly had refused to name the male nurse. On 2 May 2006, he was not wearing his obligatory name badge to ensure that I did not get his name and I did not see him again after the night of 2 May 2006 on G-Wing.

Unsurprisingly, the Nottingham City NHS PCT also refused to name the male nurse and did nothing to investigate my complaint. I wrote back to the complaints ‘advisor’ Justin Roper and asked him to name the male nurse in the spirit of ‘accountability’. If the prison and the Nottingham City NHS PCT had nothing to cover-up, naming the nurse would not be a problem but it was a problem. I assured Justin Roper that I would eventually publish every detail of what happened to me in HMP Nottingham and that I held him entirely responsible for the actions of the male nurse. Those who cover-up the wrongs of other people are just as bad if not worse than the wrongdoer/s. Roper was not interested and probably thought I would never be able to ascertain the name of the male nurse.

I then appealed to the Healthcare Commission in Manchester and after several weeks my complaints were upheld. The weight of evidence I had submitted by then was simply too significant to reject. But typically the Healthcare Commission also refused to name the male nurse to ensure his name would not leak into the public domain. As a result I approached the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in London and demanded that the male nurse be named and struck off the register to ensure he did not damage any other NHS patient in prison or anywhere else. The NMC made all the right noises to begin with, then did nothing.

On 5 October 2007, I telephoned Mark Peirce, case manager at the Healthcare Commission in Manchester. I registered my disgust with what had happened and assured him I would not accept any cover-up designed to protect the nurse. I also explained to Mark Peirce that I intended to ascertain exactly who authorised the male nurse to swap my inhaler, refuse me a replacement and attempt to frame me as being mentally ill. I also alleged three times during the telephone call that the male nurse deliberately tried to kill me by removing my inhaler and refusing me a replacement. Mark Peirce did not deny this on each occasion and simply said that he was “powerless” to discipline the male nurse and that I would have to ‘trust’ the Nottingham City NHS PCT to deal with him. At which point I realised only too well that the Healthcare Commission is nothing more than a paper tiger with no power or authority or intention to rectify the serious wrongs of the NHS and its employees.

I explained to Mark Peirce that I had until then played by the rules and had given the Nottingham City NHS PCT and HMP Nottingham every opportunity to be open and accountable and they had simply seen this as weakness and took the opportunity to attempt a cover-up and refused to name the male nurse. This proved to me that the Nottingham City NHS PCT could not be trusted with so much as a paper clip, let alone discipline a ‘nurse’ who committed in effect serious criminal offences for which he was being protected by his sponsors....

I then decided to implement my training and considerable experience as an investigative journalist and by the 10 October 2007, I had obtained the name of the male nurse. By giving HMP Nottingham, the Nottingham City NHS PCT and the Healthcare Commission an opportunity to name the male nurse I had proved that their refusal to name him was a undeniable sign of their joint collusion to cover-up a serious criminal offence.

Even more importantly is the fact that the chain of command led directly to the governor of HMP Nottingham. But the question is who authorised the governor to instruct the nurse to swap my inhaler, refuse me a replacement and try to frame me as being mentally ill. He failed on all accounts but that is far from the point of this investigation. Indeed, the nurse did not take action independently because I was targeted specifically, no other prisoner on reception on 2 May 2006 was treated in the same manner.

So the real question to be resolved is to ascertain who instructed the governor of HMP Nottingham to instruct the nurse to act accordingly. There is a chain of command in all government agencies. And I must remind readers of the words of Judge Michael Stokes on 8 May 2006 when challenged over my treatment at HMP Nottingham: “Well, with an asthma attack you either die or recover, simple as that.” The very reason my full inhaler was swapped and denied a replacement was to ensure that I suffered a serious asthma attack which could have killed me.

As a member of Asthma UK, I am aware of the fact that the last year (2004) for which figures are available show that 1381 people died as a result of asthma attacks [listen to audio recording on this page]. The figure has fallen slightly since then and the average rate of fatalities is around 1300 people each year. It is my opinion that the dirty tricks played on me on 2 May 2006, were de facto attempted murder for and behalf of the agencies of the British Government.

The comment of Judge Stokes on 8 May 2006 at Nottingham Crown Court also proves his own involvement in and knowledge of what was going to happen to me at HMP Nottingham. It must be remembered that Judge Stokes was appointed by the former Lord Chancellor and personal friend of Tony Blair, Charles Falconer. Shortly after Gordon Brown became Prime Minister he sacked Falconer and rightly so as a Blair crony who would attempt anything to undermine the new premier.

Notts Police for once played no part in this conspiracy because I was allowed to keep my full Salbutamol inhaler in my cell until it was swapped on 2 May 2006 at HMP Nottingham. But then Notts Police had already tried the same tactic on 24 March 2005 at Oxclose Lane Police Station and had also failed. The tactic against me at HMP Nottingham on 2 May 2006 was an identical line of attack tried and failed by Notts Police on 24 March 2005.

In view of this fact, just who on earth would I report this matter to? The same police ‘service’ who had tried to take me out of circulation in the same manner just 14 months before Neil Gregory's failed attempt? Of course, the corrupt chain of command at Notts Police will do everything in their power to conceal their part in the dirty war waged against me.

The Department of Health refused to comment on the foregoing serious matters in an act of silent contempt so typical of the corrupt New Labour regime.