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Showing results for tags 'Whistleblowing'.
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Content ArticleThis webpage highlights press coverage of the Chris Day whistleblowing hearing which took place in June 2022. Dr Day's case originates in 2013, when he initially raised concerns about unsafe staffing levels at Woolwich Hospital ITU, run by Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. Following this, senior management in the Trust made allegations about his conduct, he believes as a result of his whistleblowing action. As a result Health Education England (HEE) deleted Dr Day's training number, meaning he was unable to progress to become a consultant. Dr Day has been campaigning for a public hearing of the case since 2016, and believes HEE, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust and other authorities have spent large amounts of money attempting to 'crush' his case and prevent it from being heard. The tribunal hearing finally took place in June 2022 and featured revelations about Trust staff deliberately deleting emails relevant to the case, partisan briefings made to senior NHS management about Dr Day and inaccurate press statements from the Trust.
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Content ArticleThis is the witness statement submitted by the claimant at an employment tribunal between Dr Chris Day and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. Dr Day's claim is based on his belief that the actions of the Trust irreparably damaged his medical career and had a significant impact on his job security and other areas of life. The document contains Dr Day's statement about the following events: Misrepresenting the substance of the protected disclosures Misrepresenting formal investigation findings Cost threat detriments Events post-settlement Impact of the case on Dr Day and his family
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Content ArticleThis statement from Chair Peter Wyman addresses allegations of bullying and racism within NHS Blood and Transplant as reported in The Times on 21 August 2022. In the statement, Peter Wyman says, "I cannot overstate the importance we place in ensuring we have a strong, positive and inclusive culture so we can serve the public and patients who need us. “Issues of racism and bullying came to light in parts of our organisation two years ago after an in-depth staff listening exercise. We’ve moved on a lot in the past two years. Our actions have included providing a safe way for staff to raise and discuss issues by appointing a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian, improving recruitment processes to be more inclusive, matured how we manage conflict and grievances and refreshing our code of conduct so we all know the behaviours that are expected of us. We continue to measure progress through ongoing staff engagement. “We are making progress but like every good organisation we should always be challenging ourselves to do even better. In particular, I want to ensure we have a culture that enables each of us to be our best, that encourages everyone to speak up without fear or favour if they see something wrong or something which might be done better. I want a culture where everyone is valued for who they are and what they contribute. "There can be no place for any form of discrimination, bullying or harassment.”
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The NHS whistleblowing crisis (8 February 2022)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Whistle blowing
Tommy Greene and David Hencke report on a number of worrying NHS dismissal cases in this Byline Times article. -
Content ArticleThis article in Computer Weekly outlines the tribunal proceedings and judgement in high-profile case brought by whistleblower Chris Day. Dr Day claimed that Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Foundation Trust had concealed evidence when a director deleted up to 90,000 emails before he was due to testify at an earlier tribunal, concerning allegedly false and detrimental public statements about Dr Day made by the Trust. Dr Day’s lengthy legal battle first began when he was a junior doctor working at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Woolwich’s intensive care unit in 2013, where he spoke up about under-staffing at the ICU.
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Content ArticleDavid Hencke in this issue of Westminster Confidential discusses the avoidable death scandal at Epsom and St Helier University Health Trust that has led to another relative coming forward and queries about a former senior staff member in Jersey.
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Content ArticleWhistleblowing is crucial to a free and open society. The APPG Whistleblowing is committed to bringing forward root and branch reform that protects every person from the mistreatment whistleblowers are currently subjected to. The whistleblowing manifesto aims to bring forward these reforms. The Bill will establish the Office of the Whistleblower to ensure that every citizen is protected, that legitimate concerns are investigated, and that those people and institutions are prosecuted when they breach the law.
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Content ArticleThere are over 850 Freedom to Speak Up guardians in NHS primary and secondary care and independent sector organisations, national bodies and elsewhere who work to ensure workers can speak up about any issues which have an impact on their ability to do their job. For Speak Up month, the National Guardian Office find out more about the people behind the role in the 'Stuck in a lift' interviews.
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Content ArticleIn this blog, Ted Baker, Former Chief Inspector of Hospitals at the Care Quality Commission, suggests that a false view that health services are intrinsically safe leads to defensive responses to safety concerns and perpetuates a culture of blame. He argues that the mismatch between safety as described and the reality of safety in practice prevents healthcare professionals being able to speak up about safety concerns. By taking an alternative approach that accepts the risk inherent in healthcare and the fallibility of individuals, he believes we can build organisations and systems that really learn from safety events. In order to do this, we need staff to feel able and supported to speak up, something that can be achieved through widespread understanding of safety society and building a supportive culture. Ted argues that this open culture is still lacking within many services.
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Content ArticleRobbie Powell, 10, from Ystradgynlais, Powys, died at Swansea's Morriston Hospital, of Addison's disease in 1990. Four months earlier Addison's disease had been suspected by paediatricians at this hospital, when an ACTH test was ordered but was not carried out. Although Robbie's GPs were informed of the suspicion of Addison's disease, the need for the ACTH test and that Robbie should be immediately admitted back to hospital, if he became unwell, this crucial and lifesaving information was not communicated to Robbie's parents. At the time of Robbie's death, the Swansea Coroner refused the Powells' request for an inquest claiming that the child had died of natural causes. However, the Powells secured a 'Fiat' [Court Order] from the Attorney General in 2000 and an inquest took place in 2004, fourteen years after Robbie died. The verdict was 'natural causes contributed by neglect' confirming that an inquest should have taken place in 1990. Since Robbie's death, his father Will Powell, has mounted a long campaign to get a public inquiry into Robbie's case.
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Content ArticleElderly people in care homes in Cornwall were abused and neglected while failings led to reports of concerns not being investigated, a new Safeguarding Adults Review has found. The Morleigh Group, which operated seven homes in Cornwall and has since shut down, was exposed in a BBC Panorama investigation in 2016. A new Safeguarding Adults Review which was commissioned as a result of the TV show has been published making a number of recommendations to all agencies which were involved in the case. The review was completed in April 2019 but has only just been made public - Rob Rotchell, Cornwall Council Cabinet member for adult social care said that this was due to the number of agencies being involved.
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Content ArticleIn this Byline Times blog, Stephen Colegrave looks into the case of NHS whistleblower Paul, who was let down by his hospital trust and worse still by the NHS regulators there to protect the public.
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Content ArticleThe outbreak of COVID-19 changed everything, for everyone, across the globe. New ways of working and every day challenges were a reality for us all, none more so than for key workers. But the pandemic also highlighted the role whistleblowing plays in all of our lives and the perils of not listening to whistleblowers and their concerns. From the late Wuhan doctor, Dr Li Wenliang, who selflessly tried to warn of the dangers of the coronavirus outbreak (and was later reprimanded for his “false comments”), to our own NHS staff and care home workers speaking out about PPE safety concerns and working conditions, and the furlough fraud crisis, whistleblowing has been centre-stage during COVID-19. This report from Protect considers the concerns whistleblowers raised with our Advice Line in the first six months of lockdown in the UK (March - September 2020).
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Content ArticleSir Robert Francis, Chair of Healthwatch England, reflects on the mid-Staffordshire inquiry 10 years on and explains why speaking up is so vital, particularly in the context of COVID19. He also shares his support for the new Complaint Standards Framework and tells us why it’s important to listen to, learn from and be honest with the people you serve. Listen to the podcast or download the transcript.
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Whistleblowing by Steve Turner (5 November 2016)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Whistle blowing
Steve defines whistleblowing as "To raise concerns; talk to trusted colleagues; rise it with the team; follow your employer’s and national policies / processes; involve managers". In this blog, he proposes that whistleblowing isn’t a problem to be solved or managed, but an opportunity to learn and improve. The more we move away from labelling and stereotyping the more we will learn. Regardless of our position, role or perceived status, we all need to address this much more openly and explicitly, in a spirit of truth and reconciliation. -
Content ArticleFindings from the APPG for Whisltblowing's report show that whistleblowing cases continue to have a low success rate, with whistleblowers suffering more and for longer than before, writes Mary Robinson. Whilst there are laws in place to protect whistleblowers, the overwhelming evidence is that they have failed to address the principal issues they face. Politicians have a duty to confront the most difficult things, including the barriers to justice and the fear of retaliation that make it impossible or futile for people across all sectors to speak up safely. Mary, the Conservative MP for Cheadle and chair of the APPG for whistleblowing, says that a system that works with whistleblowers instead of against them, would serve to protect employees and would empower them to do the right thing. Although the UK was the first in Europe to introduce legislation with Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, we are in danger of falling behind global best practice. In this blog, Mary proposes and urgent reform of existing legislation and the introduction of an Office of the Whistleblower is needed to reset the gold standard.
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Content ArticleThis book explores patient safety themes in developed, developing and transitioning countries. A foundation premise is the concept of ‘reverse innovation’ as mutual learning from the chapters challenges traditional assumptions about the construction and location of knowledge. hub members can receive a 20% discount. Please email: feedback@pslhub.org to request the discount code.
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Freedom to Speak Up Index Report 2021 (9 July 2020)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Speak Up Guardians
The Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) Index is a key metric for organisations to monitor their speaking up culture. Measuring the effect of culture change can be difficult. The acid test is the view of workers. The NHS Annual Staff Survey can help to give some indication as to whether Freedom to Speak Up is embedded within Trusts detailing whether staff feel knowledgeable, encouraged and supported to raise concerns and if they agree they would be treated fairly if involved in an error, near miss or incident. -
Content ArticleThe contents of this book are based on the experiences of: NHS patients who have experienced avoidable harm, and associated cover-ups. NHS staff who have suffered detriment for speaking out on behalf of the above. The author's own experience as an employee of St George's hospital, Tooting, and doing locum work at hospitals in London and the Home Counties. Written from the perspective of an NHS Operating Department Practitioner, and whistleblower, NHS Dirty Secrets describes how the NHS cover-up culture is a risk to patient safety, and how employment and promotion practices are skewed in favour of those most likely to support the NHS cover-up culture. The NHS cover-up culture, itself, is decomposed and analysed, with examples given as to the methods used to support the hiding of issues, such as patient deaths, from public scrutiny.
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Content ArticleIn this article, published by the British Journal of Anaesthesia, the author looks at the impact a culture of blame can have upon NHS staff, including suicide, and offers recommendations for what should change.
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Content ArticleMuch policy focus has been afforded to the role of 'whistleblowers' in raising concerns about quality and safety of patient care in healthcare settings. However, most opportunities for personnel to identify and act on these concerns are likely to occur much further upstream, in the day-to-day mundane interactions of everyday work. Using qualitative data from over 900 hours of ethnographic observation and 98 interviews across 19 English intensive care units (ICUs), the authors of this paper, published in Social Science & Medicine, studied how personnel gave voice to concerns about patient safety or poor practice.
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Whistleblowers’ support scheme
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Whistle blowing
The Whistleblowers' support scheme helps current and former NHS workers who are having difficulty finding suitable employment in the NHS as a result of raising a concern in the public interest. It offers tailored support to help participants develop the skills and confidence needed to remain in or get back into employment. This could include career coaching, advice, CV writing and interview skill practice and work shadowing and work placements. The NHS Improvement web page outlines the eligibility criteria and application form.- Posted
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Content ArticleThe objective of this research paper, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, was to investigate doctors’ intentions to raise a patient safety concern by applying the socio-psychological model ‘Theory of Planned Behaviour’.
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Content ArticleThe Commission was established in February 2013 by the charity Public Concern at Work (PCaW) to examine the effectiveness of existing arrangements for workplace whistleblowing in the UK and to make recommendations for change. Whistleblowing is the raising of a concern, either within the workplace or externally, about a danger, risk, malpractice or wrongdoing which affects others. In March 2013 the Commission issued a consultation document. It received 142 responses. Those responding included a broad mix of employers, lawyers, academics, trade unions, politicians and whistleblowers. This report represents the unanimous view of the Commissioners taking into account this material and reports on the effectiveness of existing arrangements for workplace whistleblowing in the UK.
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Content ArticleMary Robinson, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Whistleblowing, has written to Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hannock. The APPG for Whistleblowing has been examining evidence surrounding the issues facing whistleblowers over the last two years, and more recently during the coronavirus pandemic. The APPG has concluded that the crisis has exposed some terminal failings within the existing whisleblowing framework, particularly around transparency and accountability.
