Back in May 1999, I and six other care workers blew the whistle on Isard House, a Bupa-run care home in Bromley, after witnessing shocking abuse of vulnerable older residents. We had seen people left in urine, physically assaulted and robbed by staff.
We were told to stay away while our concerns were investigated. In reality, we were isolated and forced out. We became known as the Bupa 7 and were among the first people to test Britain’s new whistleblowing law, the Public Interest Disclosure Act. It had arrived with a promise that public-interest disclosures would be protected. Our experience showed how thin that promise was.
An independent investigation upheld our concerns. Yet the report was ruled inadmissible in our tribunal. Before the case was heard, Bupa offered 70,000 towards legal costs with no admission of guilt. We did not blow the whistle to be paid to disappear. We wanted the abuse to stop. At the time of our dismissal, I said there was no “compassion in care”, which is why our charity set up to support whistleblowers bears that name. Since founding it in the early 2000s, we have helped more than 17,000 people through our helpline. I have heard the same story again and again: a worker reports abuse, then finds themselves treated as the problem.
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