Marion loses job fight, but the war goes on

Fighting on . . . Marion Shannon

A HOSPITAL worker from Royton who raised concerns about an emergency bleep system at Tameside Hospital has lost her tribunal case.

Bringing the action under the Public Interest Disclosure Act, Marion Shannon, of Connington Close, had claimed unfair dismissal.

However a ruling has stated that the case was out of time and misconceived.

Marion (55) claimed that the HaNBleep system (Hospital at Night) was putting lives at risk by causing potential delays to patient care.

A spokesperson for the hospital said: “We take patient safety extremely seriously, and Ms Shannon’s claim that lives were put at risk by the deployment of the HaNBleep system was simply not true.

“The hospital is pleased the tribunal has concluded that the claims made by Ms Shannon were unfounded and therefore found in the hospital’s favour on all counts.”

Representatives from the trust say the report points out that Ms Shannon was given several opportunities to air her grievances to appropriate managers and that all her subsequent claims were without substance.

They also say that she was never disciplined during her role as a project administrator from August, 2008.

The system is no longer used in the hospital.

Marion, who is now studying for a law degree at University Campus Oldham, says she now has grounds for a judicial review of the tribunal outcome.

However she aims to attempt to expose that bosses made an incompetent decision to implement the system.

She said: “It’s been very, very stressful, but I couldn’t sit back and do nothing.

“I was someone who raised a safety concern and it never should have got to a tribunal stage.

“The law makes it hard in these sorts of cases so it’s so difficult to bring about such claims.”

Marion, who now aims to become a human rights lawyer, plans to continue her fight through politicians, having already contacted Michael Meacher MP.