National Guardian's Office: The year of the pandemic - A summary of speaking up to Freedom to Speak Up Guardians (29 July 2021)

Summary

This is the National Guardian's Office annual data report covering the 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. It analyses the themes and learning from the speaking up data shared by Freedom to Speak Up Guardians across this period. There are over 700 Freedom to Speak Up Guardians in the NHS and there were 20,388 cases raised with them in 2020/21.

Content

Headline figures for 2020/21

• 20,388 cases were raised with Freedom to Speak Up Guardians in 2020/21 (a 26% increase from 2019/20).
• Cases raised in NHS trusts (19,560) accounted for the vast majority of these, with a further 828 cases raised in other organisation types.
• Nurses and midwives accounted for the biggest proportion (29%) of cases raised.
• Workers spoke up about issues to do with the pandemic, including social distancing, personal protective equipment, support for workers isolating and shielding, and increased stress and exhaustion.
• Communication issues were a key learning point, including workers being informed about changes, style of communication and differing local interpretations of guidance.
• 18% of cases involve an element of patient safety/quality (down 5% form 2019/20).
• Almost 12% of cases continued to be reported as being raised anonymously.