Guidance for Freedom to Speak Up Guardians: Recording cases and reporting data

Summary

Freedom to Speak Up Guardians are required to record all cases of speaking up that are raised to them.These guidelines are for Speak Up Guardians on what data they need to collect and the range of information that could be recorded for each case that you deal with. 

Content

Key points

Freedom to Speak Up Guardians are required to record all cases of speaking up that are raised to them. Your records:

• help you keep track of individual cases
• promote consistency in the handling of cases
• provide a measure of the speaking up culture in your organisation and the use of the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian route
• act as a source of intelligence enabling trends in, and barriers to, speaking up to be identified.

Cases should be recorded:

• in a consistent and systematic way
• with due regard for confidentiality
• in compliance with local data and information management, and security policies.

Confidentiality should always be respected and details of individual cases should not be shared outside the bounds of your agreement with the individual you are supporting. As a general rule, without express consent, this includes not sharing details of individual cases amongst local networks of champions/ambassadors etc. nor with other parts of your organisation, or with outside organisations.

In some circumstances confidentiality may need to be broken (for instance if there is an immediate risk of harm to an individual) – decisions on the extent of information that needs to be disclosed to enable appropriate action will need to be taken on a case-by-case basis.

The Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) form part of the data protection regime in the UK. You should seek advice from the experts in your organisation regarding the data you are collecting, how it is processed, stored and retained/destroyed. Be aware that your records may be requested weeks, months or even years after their creation and this should be taken into account when setting up your systems.