Stephen Dorrell: NHS gagging 'fundamentally wrong'

The former chief executive of an NHS trust - which is being investigated for persistently high death rates - has broken the terms of a gagging order to speak for the first time of his concerns about patient safety.

Gary Walker, was dismissed from The United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust in 2010, and signed a non-disclosure agreement as part of his pay-off deal.

The Trust he ran is now one of 14 under scrutiny after the inquiry into deaths in Mid Staffordshire.

Conservative MP Stephen Dorrell, who chairs the Health Select Committee, told today presenter John Humphrys that the culture of gagging within the NHS is "fundamentally wrong".

He said that for a long time there has been a "requirement to change the culture within the health service".

He emphasised that workers need to be encouraged to raise concerns especially when it comes to patient safety.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Thursday 14 February 2013.