A WHISTLEBLOWING consultant who was bullied out of his job believes a “systemic problem” remains at the trust which runs Furness General Hospital.

Back in November highly-respected urologist Peter Duffy spoke to The Mail at length about concerns he raised with his bosses during his employment with the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.

He alleged that a number of blunders by three of his colleagues resulted in patients suffering kidney failure and in one case left a Barrow man permanently impotent.

Two of the individuals his allegations referred to remain employed at the trust while the employment of the third ended nine days after the General Medical Council imposed strict conditions on his work as a doctor.

Mr Duffy, who was named Doctor of the Year during his time with UHMBT, was awarded £102,000 by an employment tribunal in August 2018 after he was ruled to have been unfairly dismissed.

He quit his job in July 2016 after he alleged he was bullied and forced out of his job in response to his whistleblowing.

Trust investigation reports seen by The Mail acknowledged the errors were unacceptable but bosses insisted lessons have since been learnt.

Mr Duffy has, understandably, taken a keen interest in the allegations made by radiographer Sue Allison.

He told The Mail that the bullying she reportedly suffered from, which continued up until she went on sick leave in November 2018, shows that UHMBT still harbours a culture of intimidation and harassment.

“There is a systemic problem within the trust,” Mr Duffy said.

“I was talking to a former colleague, who still works at the trust, and they said it’s still a problem.

“They said that the worry now is that all this publicity; what has been said by myself and by Sue, all that has done is drive it all further underground so people are even more terrified to speak out.”

Mrs Allison told The Mail that the coverage of Mr Duffy’s experiences had encouraged her to do the same.

After flagging up her concerns about her colleagues’ malpractice Mrs Allison moved to Furness General Hospital in 2014.

“I felt so bad for Peter because I know exactly what he has gone through,” she said.

“There are so many similarities and I just felt for him.

“He left Lancaster and moved to FGH and that’s exactly what happened to me. We were both forced to move in order to escape the bullying and to try and save our jobs and continue to protect patients."