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Showing results for tags 'Speaking up'.
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News Article
Scathing review slams West Suffolk’s ‘intimidating’ hunt for whistleblower
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
West Suffolk Foundation Trust’s investigation to find a whistleblower was “intimidating…flawed and not fit for purpose”, according to a damning review which is highly critical of the organisation’s leadership. The long-awaited review, published today, was triggered by ministers back in January 2020 following allegations that trust directors had ordered staff to give fingerprints and handwriting samples during a “witch hunt” for a whistleblower. The review, led by Christine Outram, has corroborated many of the allegations. It concluded trust leaders’ investigation to uncover the identity of the author of an anonymous letter sent to a patient’s family was “intimidating, flawed and not fit for purpose… impractical and unwise.” It said: “The decision to use fingerprinting and handwriting analysis in an NHS hospital, in the context of an anonymous letter and where no crime has been committed, was highly unusual and without doubt extremely ill-judged.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 9 December 2021 -
Content Article
West Suffolk Review (9 December 2021)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Other reports and inquiries
Findings from an independent review, commissioned by NHS Improvement in February 2020, at the request of the Department for Health and Social Care, into the handling of whistleblowing at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. -
News Article
Female ambulance staff subjected to ‘macho and sexualised’ culture
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A ‘macho’ culture within ambulance trusts is leading to widespread abuse of female staff. HSJ has been told of multiple cases including sexual misconduct, harassment or abuse against staff in the last two and a half years. These include: women being told that giving sexual favours would help them get on to paramedic training a woman who was told she would pass her driving course if she gave oral sex to a superior a student on placement who could not take off her jacket without comments being passed on her breasts, and therefore would wear it even on the hottest days a student given a lift by her supervisor who then proceeded to rub his hands up and down her legs during the journey. In a freedom of information request, the 10 ambulance trusts in England were asked for the number of incidents in which allegations of sexual misconduct, harassment or abuse had been made against staff. The trusts reported 221 cases since April 2019, of which at least 27 resulted in dismissal and at least 44 resulted in other disciplinary action, with some cases still under investigation. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 7 December 2021 -
Content Article
Special investigation: The voice of nursing on mute (1 December 2021)
Sam posted an article in Whistle blowing
The Nursing Times has carried out an investigation into nurses’ experiences of speaking out in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, revealing disturbing findings about the current state of openness in the NHS. -
Content ArticleNorthumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust were awarded the Freedom to Speak Up Organisation of the Year Award at the 2021 HSJ Awards with their demonstration of an integrated approach to speaking up. Kirsty Dickson was appointed as the first Freedom to Speak Up Guardian at Northumbria, following recommendations in the Francis Report. Since then, she has been working proactively to make sure that Freedom to Speak Up is woven into the fabric of the organisation.
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Content Article
Blog: At the edge of inside (24 June 2016)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Culture
In this opinion piece for The New York Times, David Brooks looks at the value of being 'at the edge of the inside'. He argues that being within an organisation, but not so close to the centre that you are subsumed by the 'group think', puts an individual in a good position to positively influence the organisation's culture and practice. -
Content ArticleThe rapid review was commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement, following concerns raised by staff at The Christie Hospital in relation to the Research & Innovation department. The review makes a number of recommendations and the Trust will be developing and action plan to address these.
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News Article‘Unprofessional’ behaviours, a lack of compassion, and tension among staff and managers are all contributing to pockets of ‘poor culture’ at an acute trust. A Freedom to Speak Up report presented to the board of Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust found there had been an increase in bullying and reports of staff members being “humiliated” during the last three months. The report, which covers the first two quarters of 2021-22, highlighted a “lack of compassion, kindness, and understanding” between colleagues and noted “increasing levels of frustration” that people are not being held to account for “unprofessional” poor behaviours. The report added the findings were not surprising due to the pressures of the pandemic experienced by staff. It found: “There appears to be an increase in the proportion of concerns around interpersonal behaviours and communication issues as well as levels of frustration and tension amongst staff and managers.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 24 November 2021
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News Article
New patient safety chief revealed
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A management coach and adviser to the Care Quality Commission has been appointed as the new ‘national guardian’ for the ’freedom to speak up’ programme. Jayne Chidgey-Clark will take up her new role on 1 December. The national guardian’s office leads, trains and supports the network of over 700 freedom to speak up guardians in England, as well as providing “challenge and learning to the healthcare system”. Ms Chidgey-Clark, a registered nurse, has served as a specialist adviser to the CQC since 2017. She has run her own coaching, consultancy and interim management business since 2009. She was a clincial adviser to NHS England’s new care models programme for three years until 2018 and the director of the end of life care modernisation project at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust between 2008 and 2011. Her appointment comes after Henrietta Hughes announced in June she was stepping down from the role after five years. Ms Chidgey-Clark, who is the third appointee to the position, said: “I feel excited and privileged to have been appointed as the new National Guardian for the NHS. I am passionate about, and committed to, making a real difference in people’s lives through the planning and delivery of the highest quality, effective care with excellent outcomes for people who use our health services, and their families.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 11 November 2021- Posted
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News Article
‘Climate of fear’ faces staff who voice bullying concerns at major trust
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A major trust’s Freedom To Speak Up Guardian has warned that a failure to address staff concerns about alleged bullying and long-standing ‘dysfunctional behaviours’ is damaging confidence and resulting in the loss of high-quality staff. Professor Julian Bion, presenting a half-yearly report to University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust’s board, revealed that the majority of the 41 reports to the FTSU service between April and October this year had expressed a “fear of detriment” when raising concerns. Just under half (44%) of 34 concerns raised by the contacts related to “problematic attitudes and behaviours”, ranging from reports of micro-aggressions to overt bullying. Professor Bion, UHB’s FTSU guardian since 2019, told HSJ such concerns are always “complex and sensitive issues” and recognised that the trust is handling them during “difficult circumstances” for the NHS. UHB has seen very large numbers of covid patients throughout much of the pandemic. But he warned the board that several “common themes” were emerging in UHB’s complaints process – including a fear of detriment, “problematic” delays to cases being resolved, and a lack of response from divisional departments. Suggesting there is a “disinclination” within the trust to address concerns, he said: “Very often, these dysfunctional behaviours are known about for a long time but they haven’t been addressed.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 2 November 2021 -
Content Article
In this blog, Claire Cox, Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Manager at Guys and St Thomas' Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, explains why and how she developed the Patient Safety Management Network. She looks at why the network is needed, what it has achieved so far, its aims for the future and how patient safety managers can get involved. -
Content Article
This white paper sets out the symbiotic relationship between healthcare worker safety and patient safety. It makes the case for a new focus on improvements in patient and healthcare worker safety, and on the relationship between them, to prevent safety incidents and deliver better outcomes for all. It has been published by the Safety for All campaign, set up by the Safer Healthcare and Biosafety Network (SHBN), an independent forum focused on improving healthcare worker and patient safety, including Patient Safety Learning and the Association of British HealthTech Industries. -
Content ArticleThe Virginia Mason (VM) Medical Center based in and around Seattle consists of one 350 bed hospital facility and 9 satellite units. They employ 5000 staff, 500 of which are physicians. The Patient Safety Alert (PSA) system was introduced in 2002 following a staff survey. This showed that staff were fearful of speaking-up about concerns. Also, staff doubted that information generated from concerns would improve the safety of care. At the time of the survey VM staff wishing to raise concerns had to complete a quality incident report (QIR). Typically, QIRs would sit on a shelf collecting dust for months, then filed away and forgotten. As we know from countless reports and commentaries into safety failures in healthcare and other industries, perceptions of fear and futility around speaking-up are inimical to creating a positive speak-up or open culture. Virginia Mason share their results of implementing the PSAs and 10 lessons for speaking up in the NHS.
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EventuntilThis event for Speak Up Month brings the themes of Speak Up, Listen Up and Follow Up together to focus on culture. This event, in association with the Institute of Business Ethics, will be chaired by Mark Chambers, Associate Director at the IBE and Non-executive director at the Care Quality Commission. The panel will discuss what a "Speaking Up Culture" means and how to foster an environment where people can speak up and be confident they will listened to and the action will follow for learning and improvement. Mark will be in conversation with Katy Steward, Head of Culture and Transformation and NHS England/Improvement with other guests to be confirmed. Register
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Content Article
Organisational culture and patient safety poster
Hugh Wilkins posted an article in Good practice
Poster presented by hub topic lead, Hugh Wilkins, at the MPEC 2021 Conference.- Posted
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Content Article
'Whistleblowing': a definition for reflection in Speak Up Month
Steve Turner posted an article in Whistle blowing
It's that time again. 'Speak Up Month' in the NHS. In this blog, I discuss the definition of 'whistelblowing' and why this is important. I believe that although the Francis Report has stimulated some positive changes, the only way to successfully move forward on this is to celebrate and promote genuine whistleblowers. This includes using the word 'whistleblowing', not a euphemism. It also needs us to involve everyone, including patients, in the changes. "Whistleblowing isn’t a problem to be solved or managed, it’s an opportunity to learn and improve. The more we move away for 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." What is whistleblowing? "In the UK, NHS bodies have been guilty of muddying the waters. Sometimes implying that whistleblowers are people who fail to use the proper channels, or are troublemakers, especially when they go outside their organisation with their concerns. In fact, the Public Interest Disclosure Act makes no distinction between ‘internal’ and ‘external’ whistle-blowers..."- Posted
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Content ArticleThis National Guardians Office report analyses the themes and learning from their review of the speaking up culture at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals which was undertaken 2020. The National Guardians Office received information indicating that a speaking up case may not have been handled following good practice. The information received also suggested black and minority ethnic workers had comparatively worse experiences when speaking up. Based on focus groups and interviews with Trust workers, and analysis of internal processes and data, the report reviews information about the trust’s speaking up culture and arrangements and the trust’s support for its workers to speak up.
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News ArticleLeaked results from a national survey of NHS staff has revealed a sharp drop in those who believe their health and wellbeing is being supported by their employer. The People Pulse is a national, monthly survey launched in 2020. It enables provider and commissioner organisations to monitor the NHS workforce’s health and wellbeing. According to a snapshot of the results recorded between May and August seen by HSJ, there was a drop of 9.6 percentage points in “perceptions of wellbeing support”, with “positivity” sitting at 57.3%. Almost a quarter of the survey respondents reported a “negative” experience of health and wellbeing support. The survey results also revealed almost a third of respondents said they wanted to speak up about a specific issue during the pandemic, especially on issues of staff safety, health and wellbeing, but they did not because they feared repercussions or believed nothing would happen. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 21 September 2021
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News Article
Service rated ‘good’ despite ‘weaknesses in culture’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A trust’s maternity services were rated ‘good’ despite an independent report finding ‘weaknesses in the culture’ and ‘defensive and fractious’ behaviours, HSJ has learned. As previously reported, former staff at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital Trust had raised concerns with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) over what they described as a “toxic management culture” and “unsafe” staffing levels in the trusts maternity service. Particular concerns were raised around community midwifery services. This prompted an unannounced inspection by the CQC in May, which found “low morale and negative culture” in the services. However, the CQC ultimately concluded the trust was taking positive steps to address the problems and rated its maternity services “good” overall, as well as for leadership and safety. Some frontline staff in the service have questioned those findings, however, and pointed to an independent review which was conducted in the early months of 2021. This review, carried out by independent consultant Debbie Graham and seen by HSJ, concluded there was “evidence of weaknesses in the culture; evidenced in the behaviours of some staff which appears to go unaddressed; a lack of strong, visible leadership; a lack of a shared vision; the finding that some staff have a fear of ‘speaking up’; and poor communication systems.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 20 September 2021 -
News Article
Staff frightened to speak about NHS trust bullying
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A culture of bullying and racial discrimination has been found at a hospital trust, according to an inspection report. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said there was a bullying culture across Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) Trust, with many staff too frightened to speak up. The trust has been told it requires improvement as a result of the report. NUH said it was working to address the concerns. The report said a number of the bullying cases were directly attributable to racial discrimination. It said the trust's latest staff survey showed the organisation was above average for black, Asian and minority ethnic staff experiencing bullying. Sarah Dunnett, the CQC's head of hospital inspection, said they were told of bullying incidents that had not been addressed. "We were concerned about the culture of bullying across the trust with many staff being too frightened to speak up," she said. She said the CQC would "monitor the service closely" to ensure changes were made. Read full story Source: BBC News, 15 September 2021 -
News Article
Scandal-hit trust sees surge of staff voicing concerns
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A trust facing serious questions about its working culture has had a dramatic rise in the number of concerns raised about issues such as harassment and bullying. In the first quarter of 2021-22, staff raised 84 incidents to East of England Ambulance Service Trust’s Freedom to Speak Up guardian, compared with only eight in the first quarter of 2020-21. Half of the cases raised to the guardian this year involved issues of harassment, bullying or concerns about behaviours or relationships, according to a report to the trust board. However, the biggest single area of concern — with 35 cases — was “the inconsistent applications of processes in policies” and only one out of 84 cases involved patient safety or quality. The report said: “Staff across the organisation are exhausted and express concern at continuing under this pressure… staff continue to report that the slow pace of change leaves them with little confidence of lasting change.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 8 September 2021 -
Content ArticleSafety voice is theorised as an important factor for mitigating accidents, but behavioural research during actual hazards has been scant. Research indicates power distance and poor listening to safety concerns (safety listening) suppresses safety voice. Yet, despite fruitful hypotheses and training programmes, data is based on imagined and simulated scenarios and it remains unclear to what extent speaking-up poses a genuine problem for safety management, how negative responses shape the behaviour, or how this can be explained by power distance. Moreover, this means it remains unclear how the concept of safety voice is relevant for understanding accidents. To address this, 172 Cockpit Voice Recorder transcripts of historic aviation accidents were identified, integrated into a novel dataset , coded in terms of safety voice and safety listening and triangulated with Hofstede’s power distance. Results revealed that flight crew spoke-up in all but two accidents, provided the first direct evidence that power distance and safety listening explain variation in safety voice during accidents, and indicated partial effectiveness of CRM training programmes because safety voice and safety listening changed over the course of history, but only for low power distance environments. Thus, findings imply that accidents cannot be assumed to emerge from a lack of safety voice, or that the behaviour is sufficient for avoiding harm, and indicate a need for improving interventions across environments. Findings underscore that the literature should be grounded in real accidents and make safety voice more effective through improving ‘safety listening’.
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Content ArticleThis 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.
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Content Article
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 ArticleIn this report, Exploring Freedom to Speak Up: Supporting the introduction of the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian role in Primary Care and Integrated Settings, the National Guardian's Office illustrates the challenges and benefits of implementing Freedom to Speak Up in different primary care settings. In 2019, the National Guardian’s Office began a two-year project working with primary care providers to understand how the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian role could be introduced in primary care and integrated settings. This report describes some of the variety of organisations, and the different Freedom to Speak Up models they have adopted.
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