Mick Martin assisted the chair of a Derbyshire NHS trust in covering up his conduct towards an HR director
The deputy chief of the NHS complaints watchdog has resigned over his involvement in covering up the sexual harassment of a director at an NHS trust. Mick Martin, the deputy Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), had already taken a leave of absence after being criticised by an employment tribunal, which led to an £832,711 compensation payment earlier this year.
The board of the PHSO has also launched an investigation into the organisation’s decision to appoint Mr Martin, and the actions taken by the ombudsman herself, Dame Julie Mellor, in relation to him. It is the latest blow for the troubled complaints watchdog, which in the past two years has been criticised by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt over its handling of the case of a three-year-old who died in NHS care, by the National Audit Office over its governance, and by the Health Select Committee over its performance in assisting patients with their complaints.
In a recent survey only 11 per cent of staff at the PHSO said they had confidence in the leadership, and Dame Julie has faced a call to resign from the editor of the respected Health Service Journal.
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Mick Martin
Filed under: Named & Shamed, NHS complaints
