A LEADING councillor battling to reopen a community hospital has taken the unusual step of urging NHS staff to whistleblow on their managers.

Councillor Gareth Dadd, the deputy leader of North Yorkshire County Council, said it had become obvious South Tees NHS Trust nurses feared retribution for revealing their experiences with recruitment, and the issues surrounding it, relating to the Lambert Memorial Hospital, in Thirsk.

The call comes amid mounting concerns for the future of the 14-bed infirmary, which serves patients from across Hambleton district, following the trust announcing it was temporarily closing it last September due to a shortage of nurses.

It also follows a public meeting Cllr Dadd chaired last week, in which the trust's leading officers denied widespread claims they were attempting to close the hospital "by stealth", adding that they had left no stone unturned in attempting to recruit staff to make the hospital's safe.

Many attending the meeting appeared unhappy after hearing the trust did not believe it would be able to recruit fill the five nursing vacancies at the hospital in the short to medium term.

Cllr Dadd and former Mayor of Thirsk, Councillor Janet Watson, said they felt the trust's answers to questions about recruitment were unconvincing and evidence collected from staff could be presented to the county council's Scrutiny of Health Committee, which can, in some situations, refer matters to the Health Secretary.

Cllr Dadd said: "Many members of staff have explained to us that they fear, rightly or wrongly, retribution should they speak out

"I wish to give a rock solid guarantee of privacy should any member of staff, past or present, wish to explain the actual facts of what has occurred or not within the trust as they attempted to fill vacant posts.

"We need to trust what the trust tells us and the public."

One of the trust's nurses, whose name is withheld, has said she had applied for a full-time rotational post at the Lambert and contacted the trust's recruitment team twice, but never received a response.

She said she understood "internal candidates were needed in the acute trust and couldn't be spared".

The nurse said she knew of colleagues who were happy to work there, adding: "If the trust were to give an assurance that the Lambert's future was safe, even just for a given time, people would apply."

The trust's director of nursing, Gill Hunt, said staff had never raised issues about speaking out and highlighted "other routes" for those who don’t feel confident speaking to management.

She said the trust had been attempting to be "open and honest" at the meeting when it recounted the difficulties it expected in filling the vacant posts.

Ms Hunt added: "At the public meeting two statements were read out on behalf of staff, but without knowing individual circumstances it is difficult to respond. If we interview registered nurses and they are above the bar we would not turn them down for jobs.

"Our decision to temporarily close the ward was never an issue about the building itself – it was purely based on patient safety due to staff recruitment issues."

Cllr Dadd said NHS staff could contact him in confidence at garethdadd@hotmail.com, by calling 07904-390455.