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Showing results for tags 'Speaking up'.
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Content Article
Organisational silence in the NHS: ‘Hear no, See no, Speak no’
Sam posted an article in Bullying and fear
There have been major healthcare failings in the UK NHS over many years. The persistent dysfunctional organisational culture, an inability to learn and the need for change has been identified within literature. The concept of organisational silence forms one aspect of the proposed model of organisational dysfunction in the NHS. Forty-three interviews and six focus groups have been conducted to test the model. From generalised evidence, it is suggested that the NHS is systemically and institutionally deaf, bullying, defensive and dishonest. There appears to be a culture of fear, lack of voice and silence. The cost of suppression of voice, reluctance to voice and the resulting ‘sea of silence’ is immense. There is a resistance to ‘knowing’ and the NHS appears to be hiding and retreating from reality. There is an urgent need for action to be taken to address this dysfunctional culture. The NHS needs to embrace the identity of being a listening, learning and honest organisation, with a culture of respect. It needs to choose to hear, see and speak for the benefit of patients and staff. There are implications for the wider UK society due to the apparent inability to learn and improve. -
Content ArticlePatient Safety Learning held an online workshop, in partnership with Nutshell Communications, on 7 September. The intimate, highly participative event, known as Whose Shoes?, was attended by staff in health and care and patients, as part of our work around World Patient Safety Day. During the event, different scenarios – crowdsourced by real people – were discussed. The purpose of the event was for attendees to get together and openly talk about their personal experiences around key issues in staff safety and how they impact patient safety. New Possibilities graphic recorders, Anna Geyer and Carrie Lewis, have produced visual minutes of the event and a reflective summary after the event.
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Content ArticleThis year's World Patient Safety Day focuses on both patient and staff safety. Human Factors science keeps patients safe, but also helps keep staff safe, physically and psychologically. Martin Bromiley has written a a special one page opinion piece for the Clinical Human Factors Group about the behaviours that help create psychological safety.
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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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Content ArticleFreedom 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.
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Content ArticleThis education and training guide is a resource for every Guardian’s self-development, whatever their experience in the role. Commissioned by the National Guardian’s Office and Health Education England in August 2017, the Guide was compiled by Louisa Hardman from the NHS Leadership Academy with invaluable contributions and guidance from an Advisory Group comprising Freedom to Speak Up Guardians and members of the National Guardian’s Office.
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Content ArticleThe National Guardian’s Office (NGO) has been operational for four years. Following feedback on its performance, the NGO sets out how they are going to respond to this feedback in the coming year.
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Content ArticleThis is a tool for the boards of NHS trusts and foundation trusts to accompany the Guidance for boards on Freedom to Speak Up in NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts (cross referred with page numbers in the tool) and the Supplementary information on Freedom to Speak Up in NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts. The executive lead for Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) should use the guidance and this tool to help the board reflect on its current position and the improvement needed to meet the expectations of NHS England and NHS Improvement and the National Guardian’s Office.
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Content ArticleThis guide has been produced jointly by NHS Improvement and the National Guardian’s Office, with input from a group of executives and non-executive directors (which included chief executives and chairs), FTSU Guardians and leading academics in culture and leadership. The guide sets out our expectations, details individual responsibilities and includes supplementary resources.
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Content Article17 September 2020 marks the second annual World Patient Safety Day. The theme this year is 'Health Worker Safety: A Priority for Patient Safety'. In the run up to this special event, Patient Safety Learning are publishing a series of interviews with staff from across the health and care system to highlight key issues in staff safety and gain a clearer idea of the kind of change that needs to take place to keep staff, and ultimately patients, safe. In this joint interview, Patient Safety Learning speaks to Rob Tomlinson, a nurse in the operating theatres at East Lancashire Hospitals Trust, and Peter Smith, now retired after enjoying a thirty-year career in operating theatre nursing. Rob and Pete discuss why staff need to feel both physically and psychologically safe in the operating theatre and empowered to speak up, and how the Below Ten Thousand language tool has made a huge difference in creating a safer operating environment.
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Content Article
"But I spoke up anyway" (WPSD 2020)
PatientSafetyLearning Team posted an article in Staff safety
17 September 2020 marks the second annual World Patient Safety Day. The theme this year is 'Health Worker Safety: A Priority for Patient Safety'. In the run up to this special event, Patient Safety Learning are publishing a series of interviews with staff from across the health and care system to highlight key issues in staff safety and gain a clearer idea of the kind of change that needs to take place to keep staff, and ultimately patients, safe. In this 2-minute video, Surgical First Assistant and Scrub Theatre Practitioner, Kathy Nabbie talks about her personal experiences of speaking up for patient safety. She highlights the fears that many feel in raising concerns and how staff can be helped to feel psychologically safe to talk about unsafe practice. A transcript of the video is also included below. -
Content ArticleThe ability to speak up to express concerns is a key safety behaviour all health and care staff should have. Teaching and using the 'probe, alert, challenge and escalate' (PACE) tool can allow any health or care professional of any type or seniority to use graded assertiveness to challenge any action or behaviour they may feel is inappropriate or unsafe.
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Content ArticleOn Thursday 30 July 2020, NHS England and NHS Improvement published the NHS People Plan for 2020/21. Building on the Interim NHS People Plan released in 2019, it describes itself as focusing on “how we must all continue to look after each other and foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, as well as action to grow our workforce, train our people, and work together differently to deliver patient care”. In this blog, Patient Safety Learning looks at the People Plan with specific reference to its approach to tackling the blame culture in the NHS, which is a significant factor in the safety of patients and staff. It highlights where we think the People Plan has not addressed these well-known concerns and what more needs to be done urgently.
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Content Article
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 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 Article
Psychological safety vlog (June 2020)
Claire Cox posted an article in Staff safety
In this vlog, Peter Ledwith, Safety Programme Manager reflects on the work that the Advancing Quality Alliance (AQuA) has carried out in direct response to the current and predicted conditions faced by frontline staff in health and care. Peter reflects on the Psychological Safety package that has been created in collaboration with Psychologica, which aims to develop psychologically safe environments to support effective staff wellbeing. -
Content Article
Freedom to Speak Up Guardian survey 2019
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Speak Up Guardians
A new report published by the National Guardian’s Office reveals that the perception of the speaking up culture in health is improving. An annual survey, conducted by the National Guardian’s Office, asked Freedom to Speak Up Guardians, and those in a supporting role, about how speaking up is being implemented in their organisation. The results reveal details about the network’s demographics and their perceptions of the impact of their role. This infographic highlights some of the findings. -
Content ArticleThe appointment of a Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) Guardian is a requirement of the NHS Standard Contract in England. The National Guardian’s Office (NGO) provides leadership, support and guidance to FTSU Guardians. Guidance on recording data was originally issued in January 2017 and guardians in trusts and foundation trusts have been asked to provide quarterly reports on the number of cases they have received since April 2017. These quarterly reports have been published on the NGO’s webpages. This end of year report represents a summary and analysis of the second year’s return and compares across the two years for which data is available.
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Content ArticleAll healthcare professionals have a duty of candour – a professional responsibility to be honest with patients when things go wrong. This is described in 'The professional duty of candour', which introduces this guidance and forms part of a joint statement from eight regulators of healthcare professionals in the UK. This guidance from the Nursing and Midwifery Council complements the joint statement from the healthcare regulators and gives more information about how to follow the duty of candour principles.
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Content ArticleElisabeth Poorman argues that becoming a doctor means learning that mistakes are not acceptable. From study through to practice, doctors are told in ways big and small, the only way to be a good doctor is to be a perfect doctor. The pressure only intensifies when real harm is on the line. The encouraged response is to study harder, sleep less, and never admit fear.
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Content Article
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 Article
My experience of speaking up as a healthcare assistant in a care home
Anonymous posted an article in By health and care staff
A frank account from a healthcare assistant on the bullying she experienced after raising concerns at the care home she worked in.- Posted
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Content Article
The Australian Open Disclosure Framework
PatientSafetyLearning Team posted an article in Processes
The Australian Open Disclosure Framework provides a nationally consistent basis for open disclosure in Australian healthcare. The framework is designed to enable health service organisations and clinicians to communicate openly with patients when healthcare does not go to plan. -
Content ArticleThe results of the 2019 ‘Patient safety culture survey’ of 917 pharmacy professionals, carried out by the Community Pharmacy Patient Safety Group (PSG) in April and May 2019 came after the introduction of a legal defence for dispensing errors in 2018. The survey results found only 14% of pharmacy professionals are worried about criminal prosecution when reporting a patient safety incident, compared with 40% in 2016. The survey also showed that 22% of pharmacy professionals would not report a patient safety incident inside their organisation owing to fears of criminal prosecution. This is compared with 40% of 623 respondents saying in 2016 that they would not report a patient safety incident because of the possibility of criminal prosecution.
