File on 4 Investigates

By BBC Radio 4

News-making original journalism documentary series, investigating stories at home and abroad.

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The podcast currently has 511 episodes available.

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Number 1: Medical Emergency
One doctor dies by suicide every three weeks, according to figures from the British Medical Association. In 2021, Dr Lalith Wijedoru left his role as consultant paediatrician in emergency medicine, to focus on supporting workforce health and wellbeing, including those working in healthcare. Given rare access to a wellbeing and recovery retreat, we hear emotional testimonies from the four groups of doctors at greatest risk of suicide - General Practitioners, anaesthetists, surgeons and psychiatrists. Their stories - of workplace bullying, isolation, fatigue and fear of patient complaints - suggest a system in which doctors are made to feel like machines, rather than human beings. The concept of 'moral injury' is also a factor - where a doctor is unable to provide the care they wish to give to their patient, due to lack of resources or system breakdown. Many doctors we hear from say they feel intense internalised pressure to do better - to work harder, and to never complain at worsening conditions. All have suffered from fear of failure, and the lack of the opportunity to decompress after traumatic events in the workplace. These stories take us to the heart of issues being faced by many or most NHS professionals - and by the ‘system’ more generally. For Lalith, this sharing of difficult stories is an important pathway to recovery, even a life-saving intervention. Lalith is spurred on to talk to those who seek to help and support doctors, from charities like Doctors in Distress, founded by the brother of a doctor who died by suicide, as well as those who are studying the problem of why - and how many - doctors are dying by suicide. Worryingly, there are gaps in available data, because statistics are drawn from coroners' Preventable Death reports. In England, these are a matter for each individual coroner to decide on, so death by suicide is not uniformly recorded. Having laid many of these problems bare, what hope is there of realistic change and improvement? Presenter: Dr Lalith Wijedoru Producer: Amanda Hargreaves Sound design: Joel Cox Location recordings: Jon Calver Executive producer: Dave Howard A Bespoken Media Scotland production for BBC Radio 4 This programme contains reference to suicide. If you've been affected by issues raised in this programme, you can find out more about organisations that can help by going to www.bbc.co.uk/actionline. There are also specific resources available to doctors and healthcare workers - some links to these below. NHS Practitioner Health https://www.practitionerhealth.nhs.uk/ British Medical Association (confidential helpline with counselling and peer support for doctors and medical students https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/your-wellbeing/wellbeing-support-services/counselling-and-peer-support-services Department of Health and Social Care (text message service - support available for workers in NHS England) https://www.england.nhs.uk/supporting-our-nhs-people/support-now/ Doctors In Distress https://doctors-in-distress.org.uk/ You Okay Doc? https://youokaydoc.org.uk/ NHS Employers (Suicide Prevention/Postvention Toolkit) https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/working-together-to-prevent-suicide-in-the-nhs
September 02, 202638min
Number 2: The Coroners Question
Coroners are called to investigate sudden, unexpected and violent deaths. In the more complex cases, they open an inquest. The BBC's social affairs correspondent Michael Buchanan has seen many coroners in action and reported from many inquests. For this programme we follow the inquest of Daniel Lindsay, who died in 2023 aged 41 in a Surrey care home, as we ask wider questions about coroners courts in England and Wales. Are they operating as well as they could and are there ways they could be better? We discuss claims the system is ‘chronically under-funded’, even 'broken'. We ask why there is such variation and inconsistency between different coroners – a so-called ‘postcode lottery'. We hear from Daniel Lindsay’s cousins as we explore what it is like for a bereaved family to go through an inquest and ask whether the interests of relatives should be given a higher priority. The Chief Coroner in England and Wales Alexia Durran responds to concerns and explains what she is doing to make the service more responsive and accountable. Details of advice and support with bereavement, or end of life care are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline. Producer: Leela Padmanabhan Sound design: Hal Haines
August 25, 202638min
Number 3: After EncroChat
Operation Venetic was the UK’s largest-ever law enforcement operation, following the infiltration of the encrypted communications network, EncroChat. Among those arrested was Faye Dunn, a former international footballer who had become involved as an administrator in an international operation to supply drugs. After three years in prison, Faye has now completed her sentence and is rebuilding her life away from the drugs trade. In prison, Faye saw close-up the disastrous effect drug abuse has on users for the first time. In this File on 4 investigation, Danny Shaw explores the unexpected consequences of the EncroChat operation, as prisons struggle to cope with organised criminals behind bars. Speaking publicly for the first time, Faye tells Danny the story of how she stepped off a plane at Manchester Airport and straight into the hands of the police. EncroChat was a mobile phone network used almost exclusively by organised criminals. When it was compromised by French and Dutch police, it supplied the biggest windfall of criminal intelligence in British history. It allowed police to view entire chains of communication used to coordinate the international drugs trade. In the context of the decades-old ‘War on Drugs’, it was a bunker-busting super-weapon, unlikely ever to be surpassed in law-enforcement terms. Thousands were arrested. Tonnes of drugs and millions in cash were seized. Weapons, ammunition and digital trails stretching across the global drug trade were uncovered. Major players were jailed. The police called it a once-in-a-lifetime victory. But six years later, has this Hollywood-style policing operation made an impact on the supply of drugs on our streets? Has it truly disrupted the drug trade – or simply shifted it? And with law enforcement and custody costing hundreds of millions of pounds, are there other ways of reducing the harm cased by drugs? Danny visits cities across Britain to look at programmes that aim to reduce demand for drugs - the other side of this most lucrative business model. Presenter: Danny Shaw Producer: Beth McLeod Technical Producer: Steve Wyatt Executive Producer: Andrew Wilkie Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith Image: Andy Aitchison A Prison Radio Association production for BBC Radio 4
August 12, 202638min
Number 4: Letby Hospital: Maternity failings at the Countess of Chester
The quality of maternity care in hospitals across the country has been in the spotlight following a series of scandals. On File on 4 Investigates families allege serious failings of care at the Countess of Chester maternity unit - the same hospital where neonatal nurse Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering and attempting to murder 14 babies. We speak to families about their experiences and ask what implications the quality of maternity care could have had on the Letby case. Presenter: Stephanie Hegarty Producer: Ben Robinson Production Co-ordinators: Tom Dunster and Tim Fernley Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Editor: Tara McDermott Details of organisations offering information and support with traumatic birth or child bereavement are available on the pregnancy related issues page at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline
July 21, 202638min
Number 5: Epstein Files: Lutnick, the Royals and the British Whistleblower
Whistleblower Simon Andriesz reveals how he unearthed evidence that US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had failed to disclose a business relationship with the paedophile financier, Jeffrey Epstein. The British broker, who worked at one of Lutnick’s Wall Street firms, made the discovery in the Epstein files, some of which were released earlier this year. Mr Andriesz also speaks for the first time about the personal cost of disclosing what was going on inside one of the companies then run by Howard Lutnick and his decade-long battle with courts and regulators. And he reveals how Mr Lutnick's firm was keen to agree a $1m deal with the former Prince Andrew for introductions to wealthy individuals and sovereign institutions. This programme has been edited since it was first released to correct errors in dates. Presenter: Andy Verity Producer: Rob Byrne Production Co-ordinators: Tom Dunster & Tim Fernley Technical Producer: Cameron Ward Editor: Tara McDermott
July 14, 202638min