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Bower taking legal advice on dealing with cover-up allegations Bower taking legal advice on dealing with cover-up allegations
(3 months later)
The former chief executive of the Care Quality Commission who is alleged to have been involved in the cover-up of failures over deaths of babies at a hospital in Cumbria has broken her silence to claim that she has been "hung out to dry" by the regulator she once headed.The former chief executive of the Care Quality Commission who is alleged to have been involved in the cover-up of failures over deaths of babies at a hospital in Cumbria has broken her silence to claim that she has been "hung out to dry" by the regulator she once headed.
Denying allegations that she and former colleagues suppressed a critical CQC internal report about failings at Furness General Hospital, Cynthia Bower said: "All I can say is I didn't say it [delete the report], no one else said it and the report still exists."Denying allegations that she and former colleagues suppressed a critical CQC internal report about failings at Furness General Hospital, Cynthia Bower said: "All I can say is I didn't say it [delete the report], no one else said it and the report still exists."
She also said in an interview with the Independent that she was "taking legal advice" on how to respond to the allegations: "I am unemployable. I have been accused of suppressing a report about babies dying in hospital. Who wants to give me a job?".She also said in an interview with the Independent that she was "taking legal advice" on how to respond to the allegations: "I am unemployable. I have been accused of suppressing a report about babies dying in hospital. Who wants to give me a job?".
Bower announced her resignation as chief executive of the CQC in February 2012, after a Department of Health report was critical of the organisation she oversaw. She left with a £1.35m pension pot last September after four-and-a-half years in charge of the quango on a salary of £204,000.Bower announced her resignation as chief executive of the CQC in February 2012, after a Department of Health report was critical of the organisation she oversaw. She left with a £1.35m pension pot last September after four-and-a-half years in charge of the quango on a salary of £204,000.
Her comments come as it emerged that Cumbria police examining a consultants' report for the CQC which detailed how officials may have suppressed the damning internal review into the watchdog's inspections at Furness.Her comments come as it emerged that Cumbria police examining a consultants' report for the CQC which detailed how officials may have suppressed the damning internal review into the watchdog's inspections at Furness.
Bower added that she had been forced to leave her home in Birmingham and go "on the run" due to the media spotlight which has arisen in the wake of the allegations in the report by consultants Grant Thornton, whose report she described as being "against natural justice".Bower added that she had been forced to leave her home in Birmingham and go "on the run" due to the media spotlight which has arisen in the wake of the allegations in the report by consultants Grant Thornton, whose report she described as being "against natural justice".
The allegations were a matter for the police, she added, and should not have been investigated by Grant Thornton.The allegations were a matter for the police, she added, and should not have been investigated by Grant Thornton.
Bower said: "I have no reason to be concerned by a police investigation – I would have welcomed it. It would have been a fairer and more reasonable process."Bower said: "I have no reason to be concerned by a police investigation – I would have welcomed it. It would have been a fairer and more reasonable process."
"This is a report that has hung people out to dry for something we categorically deny.""This is a report that has hung people out to dry for something we categorically deny."
Jill Finney, who was deputy chief executive of the CQC at the time when Bower was in charge, has also denied ordering the internal critical report to be deleted.Jill Finney, who was deputy chief executive of the CQC at the time when Bower was in charge, has also denied ordering the internal critical report to be deleted.
The Grant Thornton review said that she was one of three officials who in 2011 backed the suppression of an internal report into CQC's failure to spot the scandal. But Finney told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "There was not a decision at that meeting to delete a report nor was there an instruction."The Grant Thornton review said that she was one of three officials who in 2011 backed the suppression of an internal report into CQC's failure to spot the scandal. But Finney told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "There was not a decision at that meeting to delete a report nor was there an instruction."
The names of Finney, Bower and media manager Anna Jefferson, who all deny any attempted cover-up, were initially redacted from the Grant Thornton report but later revealed by the CQC after a public outcry.The names of Finney, Bower and media manager Anna Jefferson, who all deny any attempted cover-up, were initially redacted from the Grant Thornton report but later revealed by the CQC after a public outcry.
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