A summary of speaking up to Freedom to Speak Up Guardians 1 April 2019 – 31 March 2020. A report by the National Guardian’s Office

Summary

The appointment of a Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) Guardian is a requirement of the NHS Standard Contract in England. The National Guardian’s Office (NGO) provides leadership, support and guidance to FTSU Guardians.

This report from the NGO covers the period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020.

Content

Key findings

Between 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020, 16,199 speaking up cases were raised with  Freedom to Speak Up Guardians. This was a 32% increase compared with the  previous year in which 12,244 speaking up cases were raised with Freedom to Speak  Up Guardians. 

• Freedom to Speak Up Guardians supported speaking up in a range of  organisations, including NHS trusts, primary care organisations, independent  healthcare providers, clinical commissioning groups and non-departmental public  bodies. 
• Among NHS trusts, Freedom to Speak Up Guardians in mental health, learning  disability and community trusts and ambulance trusts, on average, dealt with more  speaking up cases.  
• Freedom to Speak Up Guardians continued to support workers from all professional  groups to speak up. Nurses continued to account for the biggest portion (28%) of cases raised with Freedom to Speak Up Guardians. 
• Administrative and clerical workers accounted for the next biggest portion of  cases raised with Freedom to Speak Up Guardians (19%), up three  percentage points on the previous year. 
• 23% of cases raised with Freedom to Speak Up Guardians  included an element of patient safety/quality. 36% included an  element of bullying and harassment.  
• 13% of cases raised with Freedom to Speak Up Guardians were  raised anonymously. 
• Detriment for speaking up was indicated in 3% of cases raised with  Freedom to Speak Up Guardians. This is lower compared to the previous year where  detriment was indicated in five per cent of cases. 
• 85% of workers who gave feedback said they would speak up  again. Workers said they would not speak up again in 3% of cases where  feedback was received.