If you are used to tribunals and you thought it was likely to go that way, why aren't you covering your own arse by making sure you have proper policies in place and report all concerns?
If Upton had gone to tribunal the lack of policy etc could have come back and bitten her on the arse.
The interesting thing is HR seem to have been much better at this and also had a papertrail saying 'this is being done too quickly and not as a last resort'.
So however you cut it, Kate Searle must have a head girl mentality of wanting to suck up to certain people and ideas because it never entered her head 'what happens if this goes to tribunal? Have I protected the NHS?' She has to be right and she is right and anyone who disagrees with her is wrong and should know their place.
Her actions demonstrate her attitude to risk management and safeguarding. She hasn't done a course in it and she doesn't think management thinks it's a priority. It's not important. The importance of proceedures is irrelevant - she's a doctor she knows best. She's kind after all. No one is going to challenge her.
In this situation it's actually not a patient safety issue - but we see a huge number of cases where this dynamic very much does play out with life changing results or even death.
Genuinely there needs to be a wholesale change and microscope put onto the arrogance of some of these individuals. We KNOW there's a problem with this - there's studies showing how attitudes to female patients affect their care and outcomes. We KNOW that there's high levels of sexism and a terrible track record within the NHS towards protecting female staff and patients.
The god complex in doctors is one we should talk about because it's very relevant here.
Kate demonstrated it in how she closed ranks and told all the other doctors on A&E and didn't consider the duty of care to a nurse. She highlights how she thinks certain people are below her and her consideration. She made the comment - I'm a doctor I'm trustworthy and that Upton since he's a doctor couldn't possibly lie.
And her whole identity has been founded on the idea that she's kind - that was her response - but I'm kind. Never at any point does she think - hmm maybe I'm infallible and I need to make sure I can demonstrate I'm being fair. Never does it enter her head that other doctors might lie or not be kind either. All because she's so wrapped up in this arrogant idea of self and how she's a fucking saint because she's a doctor who can't be questioned.
It comes back to arrogance at all times.
You can't get away from the arrogance. It's there at every step and in every possible explanation.