Northwest Ambulance Service case review published

The National Guardian’s Office (NGO) has published a 'Summary of speaking up learning and actions' in response to the referrals made from the review into the handling of two speaking up cases at Northwest Ambulance Service NHS Trust (NWAS). The review is the product of the NGO’s engagement process, the central feature of which is the actions the trust will take to address the issues highlighted.

These include explaining the scope of the role of the Freedom to Speak Up Guardians and the issues they can support workers to raise. The trust has also committed to consider their approach to the independence, timeliness and handling of investigations into speaking up matters. They also recognised the need to address perceived attitudes towards female workers.

“The trust has outlined significant steps it is making to ensure these issues are taken seriously, and the learning is embedded in effective improvement actions,” explained Dr Henrietta Hughes, National Guardian for the NHS.

Daren Mochrie, NWAS’ Chief Executive, said, “It’s really important for us to give our staff the confidence to be able to share any concerns and observations safely and confidentially. This creates an open and honest reporting culture within the trust. We welcome the findings of the report and are now putting the learning from this into action to even further improve our reporting system.”

Source: National Guardian's Office, 12 September 2019