Independent National Whistleblowing Officer: Findings from NHS Boards’ annual whistleblowing reporting 2022-23 (11 March 2024)

Summary

NHS Boards are required under the National Whistleblowing Standards (the Standards) to publish annual whistleblowing reports setting out performance in handling whistleblowing concerns.

Content

Executive summary

• Boards were required to publish annual whistleblowing reports for the second time in 2022-23 after the launch of the National Whistleblowing Standards (the Standards) on 1 April 2021.
• All Boards produced an annual report in 2022-23.
• All Boards complied with the requirement to report against the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set out in the Standards but not every Board reported against each KPI.
• The Independent National Whistleblowing Officer (INWO) has seen a positive improvement in reporting from year one, 2021- 22.
• The numbers of concerns received vary significantly across Boards.
• Although there has been an improvement in reporting against KPI 2 (a statement to report the experiences of all those involved in the whistleblowing procedure) INWO encourages Boards to do more to show they are actively seeking and reporting the experiences of people who have used the process. This is an important aspect of promoting trust in the Standards and enabling access. The INWO intends to explore this during Speak Up Week 2024, the theme will be ‘Enabling Speaking Up’.
• Almost three years into the Standards we recognise that developing the triangulation of data is critical in identifying trends, themes and patterns from the concerns raised. Boards’ annual reports play a meaningful role in this and INWO is keen to provide support to develop the effectiveness of utilising whistleblowing data nationally.
• INWO are continuing to develop training, guidance, and resources on reporting. In 2024 they intend to supplement their existing training and resources by offering a workshop to NHS staff responsible for producing Board annual reports, on best practice reporting, as well as updating our good practice guidance.
• It was encouraging that many Boards described their future plans and ambitions for raising awareness, developing speak up culture, and learning from whistleblowing concerns in their reports.
• The INWO in addition to this report will provide individual short written feedback to each Board. The INWO will continue to take a leadership role providing support and guidance to NHS organisations. We are here to support NHS organisations in the implementation of the Standards. We encourage Boards to visit our webpage to access our latest resources.