A NATIONAL health leader has threatened to take legal action against a hospital boss who refused to be involved in a maternity scandal whitewash.

Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, confirmed her organisation may issue formal court proceedings against the trust in charge of Furness General Hospital over a secrecy dispute.

The row surfaced on Friday after Jackie Daniel - the woman at the helm of the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust - uncovered details of an 'irregular' pay off to FGH's former maternity risk manager Jeanette Parkinson - which allowed the midwife to pocket thousands of pounds in hospital funds when she left her post in 2012.

In addition to the cash, Ms Parkinson was also given an assurance she would not be investigated over alleged poor conduct, as part of a job exit deal.

Details of the agreement emerged after Mrs Daniel declared her trust was committed to transparency, adding disclosing the information had been the 'right thing' to do.

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Now, a statement issued on behalf of the Royal College of Midwives claims UHMBT 'breached the privacy' of Ms Parkinson - who worked as a supervisor at the unit while 11 babies and one mother died as a result of poor care and a culture of cover ups - by acknowledging the existence of the deal and allowing it to become public.

It states: "We cannot allow the trust to reveal details of a confidential agreement, entered into in good faith by both parties, with impunity.

"Nor can we stand by and allow employers to invade the privacy of their former employees.

"The RCM is carefully considering its options to pursue the trust and those involved in the decision to disclose this confidential information."

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The threat of legal action by the RCM has enraged the parents of those who lost loved ones at FGH between 2004 and 2013 in what has become known as the Morecambe Bay maternity scandal.

It has also led James Titcombe, the father of baby Joshua Titcombe, who died in 2008 aged nine days old, to call for Ms Warwick's resignation over the issue.

In an open letter to the RCM, Mr Titcombe said: "Despite the shocking legal threat from the Royal College of Midwives attempting to block the release of this report, Jackie Daniel demonstrated last week the trust were no longer willing to bury information and instead chose to be open, honest and transparent.

"I urge you cease these threats and instead use your resources to investigate the role of RCM in helping to negotiate this deal, its implications for patient safety, the hurt and distress caused to families whose loved ones died as a consequence of the wrongdoing involved, the careless use of tax payers money and the damage such deals cause to the confidence and trust of patients and staff who righty expect the NHS and organisations like the RCM to behave in an ethical way."

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