Jump to content

Search the hub

Showing results for tags 'Whistleblowing'.

More search options

  • Search By Tags

    Start to type the tag you want to use, then select from the list.

  • Search By Author

Content Type


Forums

  • All
    • Commissioning, service provision and innovation in health and care
    • Coronavirus (COVID-19)
    • Culture
    • Improving patient safety
    • Investigations, risk management and legal issues
    • Leadership for patient safety
    • Organisations linked to patient safety (UK and beyond)
    • Patient engagement
    • Patient safety in health and care
    • Patient Safety Learning
    • Professionalising patient safety
    • Research, data and insight
    • Miscellaneous

Categories

  • Commissioning, service provision and innovation in health and care
    • Commissioning and funding patient safety
    • Digital health and care service provision
    • Health records and plans
    • Innovation programmes in health and care
    • Climate change/sustainability
  • Coronavirus (COVID-19)
    • Blogs
    • Data, research and statistics
    • Frontline insights during the pandemic
    • Good practice and useful resources
    • Guidance
    • Mental health
    • Exit strategies
    • Patient recovery
    • Questions around Government governance
  • Culture
    • Bullying and fear
    • Good practice
    • Occupational health and safety
    • Safety culture programmes
    • Second victim
    • Speak Up Guardians
    • Staff safety
    • Whistle blowing
  • Improving patient safety
    • Clinical governance and audits
    • Design for safety
    • Disasters averted/near misses
    • Equipment and facilities
    • Error traps
    • Health inequalities
    • Human factors (improving human performance in care delivery)
    • Improving systems of care
    • Implementation of improvements
    • International development and humanitarian
    • Safety stories
    • Stories from the front line
    • Workforce and resources
  • Investigations, risk management and legal issues
    • Investigations and complaints
    • Risk management and legal issues
  • Leadership for patient safety
    • Business case for patient safety
    • Boards
    • Clinical leadership
    • Exec teams
    • Inquiries
    • International reports
    • National/Governmental
    • Patient Safety Commissioner
    • Quality and safety reports
    • Techniques
    • Other
  • Organisations linked to patient safety (UK and beyond)
    • Government and ALB direction and guidance
    • International patient safety
    • Regulators and their regulations
  • Patient engagement
    • Consent and privacy
    • Harmed care patient pathways/post-incident pathways
    • How to engage for patient safety
    • Keeping patients safe
    • Patient-centred care
    • Patient Safety Partners
    • Patient stories
  • Patient safety in health and care
    • Care settings
    • Conditions
    • Diagnosis
    • High risk areas
    • Learning disabilities
    • Medication
    • Mental health
    • Men's health
    • Patient management
    • Social care
    • Transitions of care
    • Women's health
  • Patient Safety Learning
    • Patient Safety Learning campaigns
    • Patient Safety Learning documents
    • Patient Safety Standards
    • 2-minute Tuesdays
    • Patient Safety Learning Annual Conference 2019
    • Patient Safety Learning Annual Conference 2018
    • Patient Safety Learning Awards 2019
    • Patient Safety Learning Interviews
    • Patient Safety Learning webinars
  • Professionalising patient safety
    • Accreditation for patient safety
    • Competency framework
    • Medical students
    • Patient safety standards
    • Training & education
  • Research, data and insight
    • Data and insight
    • Research
  • Miscellaneous

News

  • News

Find results in...

Find results that contain...


Date Created

  • Start
    End

Last updated

  • Start
    End

Filter by number of...

Joined

  • Start

    End

Group

First name

Last name

Country

Join a private group (if appropriate)

About me

Organisation

Role

Found 317 results
  1. News Article
    After health inspectors considered closing a maternity unit over safety fears, the BBC's Michael Buchanan looks at a near-decade of poor care at East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust. "I've been telling you for months. The place is getting worse." The message in February, which Michael received from a member of the maternity team, was stark but unsurprising. In a series of texts over the previous few months, the person had been getting increasingly concerned about what was happening at the East Kent trust. The leadership is "totally ineffective" read one message. "How long do we have to keep hearing this narrative - we accept bad things happened, we have learned and are putting it right. Nothing changes." Friday's report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is unfortunately just the latest marker in a near-decade of failure to improve maternity care at the trust. The revelation that inspectors considered closing the unit at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford comes nine years after the trust's head of midwifery made a similar recommendation for the same reasons - that it was a danger to women and babies. The failure to act decisively then allowed many poor practices to continue. Read full story Source: BBC News, 28 May 2023
  2. News Article
    Regulators are probing a series of whistleblowing claims about the leadership culture of a trust which is rated ‘outstanding’ for its management, HSJ has learned. It is understood multiple current and former staff members at Bolton Foundation Trust, including people in senior positions, have been in contact with NHS England and the Care Quality Commission in recent months. The claims include a dramatic worsening in leadership culture at the trust, particularly around the FTSU process and people who speak up being bullied, side-lined and silenced. And investigations and meetings are stage-managed and tightly controlled by executives, with constant “sugar-coating” and positive spin on board reports, and intolerance of people who disagree. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 22 May 2023
  3. News Article
    A world-renowned cancer centre hit by whistleblowing concerns over alleged bullying has been downgraded by the health watchdog. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) told The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester it "requires improvement" in safety and leadership. A former trust nurse told the BBC leaders had intimidated staff to stop them voicing concerns to inspectors. Rebecca Wight worked at The Christie - Europe's largest cancer centre - from 2014 but quit her role as an advanced nurse practitioner in December, claiming her whistleblowing attempts had been ignored. She told BBC Newsnight the trust had attempted to manipulate the inspection by intimidating those who wished to paint an honest picture. Roger Kline, an NHS workforce and culture expert from Middlesex University Business School, told BBC Newsnight there was a culture at The Christie which was "unwelcoming of people raising concerns". He said: "The trust response is more likely... to see the person raising the concerns as the problem rather than the issues they have raised," adding this was "not good for patient care". Read full story Source: BBC News, 12 May 2023
  4. News Article
    A former NHS chief executive is suing her employer, saying she was "bullied, harassed, intimidated and undermined" by the hospital trust's chairman. In legal papers, seen by BBC News, Dr Susan Gilby alleges she was effectively unfairly dismissed by the Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust, after she made a formal complaint. Dr Gilby claims the chairman was "highly aggressive and intimidatory" in meetings, that he banged his hand on a desk to emphasise his point, and oversaw a climate where "offensively sexist comments and ferocious and repetitive criticisms" were made by either him or his associates. Dr Gilby's complaint accuses the chairman of putting finance above patient safety at the hospital trust She made a formal whistle-blowing complaint against the chairman in July 2022, raising her concerns about his behaviour to both the trust and NHS England. The trust responded to her concerns, Dr Gilby claims, by proposing that she be seconded to a senior advisory role within NHS England on the condition she withdrew her allegations. Read full story Source: BBC News, 12 May 2023
  5. News Article
    Managers at a medical rehabilitation unit are "covering it up" when issues are raised, a whistleblower has said. The whistleblower claimed Cambridge Rehabilitation Unit (CRU) management bullied staff who flagged concerns over shortages and unsafe practice. Documents detail claims of "dangerous" staffing levels, patients left in bed all day without therapy and a one-star food hygiene rating. Through the Freedom of Information Act, the BBC discovered three whistleblowing complaints were made to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) between May and August last year. The first said wards "run on dangerous levels of staff" and no action was taken when staff flagged concerns. The second stated there was "bullying occurring from management when staff raise concerns regarding short staffing and unsafe practice". They said: "When issues relating to patient safety are raised... management are 'covering it up'." Read full story Source: BBC News, 9 May 2023
  6. News Article
    A former top medic on the Isle of Man who was unfairly dismissed has said her career has been "shattered" by her treatment. Rosalind Ranson was the Department of Health and Social Care's (DHSC) medical director from January 2020. She was awarded a record £3.19m in compensation after a lengthy tribunal which ruled she had been unfairly dismissed for whistleblowing. Dr Ranson raised a number of serious concerns about the coronavirus advice on the island that was not being passed on to ministers. She was later marginalised before being dismissed as the island's top medic when the operational services of DHSC transitioned into Manx Care. Dr Ranson said: "For me it is a tragedy that my 35-year career in medicine has come to an end through these circumstances. "I was proud of my professional integrity, my resilience, and my strength to stand up for those that I protected through my work as a doctor." Read full story Source: BBC News, 4 May 2023
  7. News Article
    Two former senior managers at a large mental healthcare provider have told the BBC they had concerns about the safety of patients and staff. The whistleblowers claim they felt pressure to cut costs and fill beds. The Priory Group, which receives more than £600m of public money each year, is the biggest single private provider of mental health services to the NHS. The company denies the claims and says it successfully treats tens of thousands of patients each year. It adds its services "remain amongst the safest in the UK". The former members of the Priory Group's senior management said that, when they were working for the company, they found it difficult to recruit or retain staff, due to poor pay and conditions. They believe this resulted in patients being placed on wards that did not have staff equipped with the right skills to handle their conditions. Read full story Source: BBC News, 26 April 2023
  8. Content Article
    In this blog, Steve Turner reflects on why genuine patient safety whistleblowers are so frequently ignored, side-lined or victimised. Why staff don't speak out, why measures to change this have not worked and, in some cases, have exacerbated the problems. Steve concludes with optimism that new legislation going through Parliament offers a way forward from which everyone will benefit.
  9. News Article
    Patients were left on trolleys for up to four days at a major NHS hospital where whistleblowers raised concerns over “unsafe” staffing levels, it has emerged. In a scathing report, the NHS safety watchdog said it found patients waiting on trolleys, in corridors and outside nursing bays at Good Hope and Heartlands hospital, run by the scandal-hit University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. In one incident flagged by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), a patient’s skin ulcers had grown significantly worse while they waited for four days on a trolley without an appropriate mattress. At the time of the inspection, most patients had been waiting for more than two days on trolleys, according to the CQC. The inspection took place in December, after concerns were raised by patients and families over care. The CQC said staff told inspectors they’d been left in “unsafe situations” due to poor staffing. Read full story Source: The Independent, 19 April 2023
  10. News Article
    A top doctor has blamed a "dysfunctional" culture at NHS Highland for a crisis in medical recruitment and retention engulfing its rural hospitals. Dr Gordon Caldwell, a consultant physician who was the clinical lead at Lorn and Islands hospital in Oban until he resigned last summer, said there "still seems to be a lot of fear" among staff more than four years on from a bullying scandal that cost the health board nearly £3 million in settlements. Dr Caldwell - who joined NHS Highland in 2018 - said an exodus of senior consultants from Oban and Fort William over the past 18 months is down to management "undermining us, bullying us, and blaming us for problems that were due to a lack of leadership". The 66-year-old, who is internationally regarded for his expertise in medical education, became so concerned about the impact on junior doctor training in Oban that he whistleblew to NHS Education for Scotland (NES) while on sick leave for stress after finding his own internal complaints rebuffed. A resulting inspection report, published in May last year, said NES had "serious concerns about the training environment" at Lorn and Islands hospital, including around the "safety of care". Read full story Source: The Herald, 1 April 2023
  11. News Article
    A former adviser for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has called on the regulator to explain what action it has taken against the officials responsible for wrongly dismissing him after he raised whistleblowing concerns. Shyam Kumar, a surgeon who was part of inspection teams in the North West, told HSJ that he had to live with question marks over his reputation for several years. He is furious that a senior CQC official sought to question his honesty and integrity in evidence submitted to the employment tribunal examing his dismisal. The tribunal heard Mr Kumar had raised a number of whistleblowing disclosures to the CQC, including concerns about the lack of appropriate expertise on inspection teams. After a wide-ranging review around its handling of whistleblowing concerns, CQC chief executive Ian Trenholm last week apologised to Mr Kumar for “unacceptably poor treatment” by his organisation, and thanked him for contributing to the review. However, Mr Kumar told HSJ: “I’m glad the CQC has looked at this and finally acknowledged what they did to me was wrong. But I want to know what has happened to the individuals that were responsible.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 6 April 2023
  12. News Article
    A review of the whistleblowing framework – the laws that support workers who blow the whistle on wrongdoing in the workplace – has been launched by the Government. The review will seek views and evidence from whistleblowers, key charities, employers and regulators. Whistleblowing refers to when a worker makes a disclosure of information which they reasonably believe shows wrongdoing or someone covering up wrongdoing. Workers who blow the whistle are entitled to protections, which were introduced through the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA). Successive governments have taken steps to strengthen whistleblowing policy and practice. It provides a route for employees to report unsafe working conditions and wrongdoing across all sectors. This was keenly felt during the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic, when the Care Quality Commission and Health and Safety Executive recorded sharp increases in the number of whistleblowing disclosures they received. The review will gather evidence on the effectiveness of the current regime in enabling workers to speak up about wrongdoing and protect those who do so. The evidence gathering stage of the review will conclude in Autumn 2023. Read full press release Source: Gov.UK, 27 March 2023
  13. News Article
    The Care Quality Commission’s follow-up of whistleblowing concerns from health and care staff has been poor and inconsistent, and there is a “widespread lack of competence and confidence” on dealing with race and racism at the organisation, two reviews have found. A “Listening, learning, responding to concerns” review was published by the Care Quality Commission, alongside a linked independent review into how the regulator failed Shyam Kumar, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon in the North West, who was also a CQC specialist professional adviser. The wider review looked at a range of issues including how the CQC deals with racism; how well it listens to whistleblowers in providers; and how it deals with its own staff, including as part of a recent restructure, and its internal “Freedom to Speak Up” process. It followed concerns bring raised, in addition to Mr Kumar’s case, about these issues. Scott Durairaj, a CQC director who joined it last year and led the review work along with a panel of advisers, reported there was “clear evidence, during the scoping, design phase and throughout the review, of a widespread lack of competence and confidence within CQC in understanding, identifying and writing about race and racism”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 29 March 2023
  14. Content Article
    On 24 August 2022, the Employment Tribunal found that Mr Shyam Kumar, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon employed at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMB), had been disengaged from his role as a Specialist Advisor within the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on account of having made “protected disclosures” to the CQC. This means he had raised concerns with CQC about the health of patients and other important issues and had done so in the public interest. The Employment Tribunal found that the fact that he had raised these various concerns with CQC had materially influenced its decision to disengage him. It awarded him £23,000 in damages for injury to feelings, on account of what it described as “the inevitable impact” of CQC’s actions upon Mr Kumar’s reputation among his peers and the shock, confusion and concern it caused to him. The CQC has accepted these findings and apologised to Mr Kumar. CQC’s Chief Executive, Ian Trenholm, issued a public statement on 6 September 2022 about what occurred, including a recognition of the importance of the concerns Mr Kumar raised, the importance of the information raised by staff and the public generally, and the “vital role” played by Specialist Advisors in CQC’s inspections. Following this, Zoe Leventhal KC was appointed by CQC’s Executive Board to carry out an independent review into whether CQC took appropriate action as a regulator in response to the protected disclosures that Mr Kumar made, and whether it dealt appropriately with a sample of other instances where concerns have been raised with CQC.
  15. Content Article
    The concerns that health and care workers and the public share with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) about health and care services are critical to its work. It is also vital that CQC listens to its own staff. This review explores whether there are areas of culture or process within CQC that need to be improved in relation to listening, learning, and responding to concerns. The review focused on these key areas: Organisational findings Reviewing how well we listen to whistleblowing concerns. Reviewing our Freedom to Speak Up policy. Learning from the tribunal case. Reviewing how we listen to our staff. Reviewing the expectations and experiences of people who raise concerns with us.
  16. News Article
    Whistleblowers have described the accident and emergency (A&E) department at Hull Royal Infirmary as "incredibly dangerous" and a "death trap". The Care Quality Commission (CSC) found Hull University Teaching Hospitals required improvement overall and its A&E department was rated inadequate. Two clinical staff members, who wished to remain anonymous, described it as a "toxic" place to work. Speaking to the BBC, the two staff members who have worked in Hull's A&E department said they had raised concerns with senior managers and the CQC. They said there were frequently fewer staff than needed and warned inexperienced staff, one whom had never seen a cardiac arrest, were working in areas like resuscitation, which was "incredibly dangerous". "Nurses who aren't even signed off to give oral medication are being put in resuscitation," one said. "It's a death trap, it is terrifying." Despite these concerns, CQC inspectors in December and November did find the service "had enough nursing and support staff to keep patients safe". Read full story Source: BBC News, 28 March 2023
  17. Content Article
    Whistleblowing is synonymous with the exposure of wrongdoing by informed insiders, and is recognised by organisations and governments as an important and positive act in the fight against crime, corruption and cover up. This report was produced by WhistleblowersUK as secretariat to the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Whistleblowing and sets out the case for an Independent Office of the Whistleblower. It outlines how this can address the failure of the UK to make whistleblowing work for society. Working with groups of experts and specialists including those from academia and law from around the world, the APPG has drawn up the “Whistleblowing Bill”.
  18. News Article
    A scandal-hit hospital group has been sanctioned by inspectors after The Independent revealed “systemic abuse” at a string of children’s mental health units. England’s safety watchdog issued an official warning to Ivetsey Bank Hospital in Staffordshire, run by The Huntercombe Group, after an extensive investigation by this newspaper found the private hospital had put the safety of young mental health patients at risk. The Care Quality Commission also downgraded the hospital’s rating to “inadequate”. If improvements are not made in line with the warning notice, the hospital could be forced to close. An inspection was carried out two weeks after The Independent revealed widespread allegations of abuse and excessive restraint across The Huntercombe Group’s hospitals. The investigation revealed the provider, which also runs Taplow Manor children’s hospital in Maidenhead, was facing allegations from more than 50 former patients as well as claims of poor care from staff whistleblowers and dozens of negligence claims. Read full Source: The Independent, 15 March 2023
  19. Event
    Part of Whistleblowers Awareness Week (WBUK). Aims and Objectives: 1. To engage MPs, organisations and policy makers in understanding the consequences of the victimisation of healthcare whistleblowers for patients and the public. 2. To help remove the stigma around the subject of whistleblowing. 3. To inform attendees of the benefits of change and how this links to the Protection for Whistleblowing Bill [HL] and an Office for the Whistleblower. 4. To provide information that will enable attendees to take practical, measurable steps to move the agenda forward and join in with the work of the APPG and WBUK. Speakers: Dr Jenny Vaughan OBE - Doctors’ Association U.K. Cathryn Watters RGN – Whistleblowers and regulation Steve Turner RMN – Patient experience Professor Emmanouil Nikolousis (online) – Cultures of fear Panel members: Mr Chris Day - CQC Director of Engagement Dr Chris Day Dr Chaand Nagpaul CBE Tom Grimes - NHS England Head of Advocacy and Learning (FTSU) Dr Jayne Chidgey-Clark - National Guardian for the NHS More information
  20. Event
    until
    Whistleblowing is barely out of the news. We cannot turn on the TV without a headline or plot that relies on whistleblowers and how badly they are treated. Think about our police, NHS, armed forces, media, banks, corporations - the list goes on... Whistleblowing is good for society and good for business. Whistleblowers are the most effective first line of defence against crime, corruption and cover up. Whistleblowing Awareness Week (WBAW) is an opportunity for MPs to understand how proposed legislation is key to driving a culture where speaking up is valued, and where people who try to silence whistleblowers or suppress evidence of wrongdoing face the full force of the law. WBAW will dispel the stigma and suspicion that overshadow whistleblowers. It will also set out how the Whistleblowing Bill developed by WhistleblowersUK for the APPG for Whistleblowing will transform the way that whistleblowers and whistleblowing are treated. See the events going on for WBAW
  21. News Article
    A review into the culture at Birmingham's biggest hospitals trust amid allegations of bullying and undue pressure on staff has found 'substantial issues' of concern, a brief report has revealed. A short briefing for councillors by NHS Birmingham and Solihull chief executive David Melborne offers the first insight into the findings of Professor Mike Bewick and his review team who were tasked with investigating damning allegations made by current and former staff at University Hospitals Birmingham. More than 50 medics, including some with decades of experience, came forward to criticise a 'toxic' working culture at the trust, many sharing their experiences with MP Preet Kaur Gill (Birmingham Edgbaston). Among the most serious claims that emerged were that whistleblowers concerned about patient safety were silenced with threats of disciplinary action. In a written report to Birmingham and Solihull councils' joint health overview and scrutiny committee, meeting Monday, Mr Melborne says the rapid review into the Newsnight allegations and subsequent complaints has found 'no fundamental safety issues at the Trust'. However, he goes on: "That said, there are substantial issues around culture, behaviour, leadership and governance that will need to be addressed". Read full story Source: Birmingham Live, 10 March 2023
  22. News Article
    A trust spent £460,000 on legal fees trying to fight a patient safety whistleblowing case that it lost, it can be revealed. An employment tribunal judge rejected the idea that a consultant nephrologist had done anything to bring about her dismissal from Portsmouth Hospitals University Trust. Jasna Macanovic was subjected to what the tribunal earlier this year called “a campaign of harassment”, after she warned colleagues that a procedure they were using was harming patients. After relationships broke down in the Wessex Kidney Unit, she was referred to a disciplinary panel at which two board members – the former nursing director and the current medical director – offered her a good reference if she would resign. She refused and was dismissed in March 2018. The judge noted the offer was clear evidence that the disciplinary process was a foregone conclusion. Read full story Source: HSJ, 8 March 2023
  23. News Article
    Hospitals are still covering up serious mistakes in patient care and fobbing off families that raise concerns, the head of the watchdog that investigates complaints against the NHS has warned. Rob Behrens told The Times he had seen cases of medical records being changed after a death and spoken to doctors who were too scared to speak out about failings in their hospitals. He called on ministers to change the law to introduce a “duty of candour” on health and other public service staff to “transform” the system and make it more accountable to patients. He warned: “There is a deep reluctance to explain and give an account of what you do in the health service or the public service for fear of retribution. The things that really get to me are the avoidable deaths of babies in the health service — dying because there’s been poor coordination or they’d been wrongly diagnosed or the parents hadn’t been listened to. That is shocking.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times. 6 March 2023
  24. Content Article
    It's now a decade since the Francis Report, which outlined the causes of serious failures in care at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. The report and prior media coverage exposed a wide set of issues surrounding the culture and transparency of health care, and these topics remain of major concern today. In this article for the Nuffield Trust, Shaun Lintern has interviewed Sir Robert Francis KC about the weight of those patient stories and treatment of the NHS's staff, then and now.
  25. News Article
    An NHS whistleblower has sacrificed his career to capture on hidden camera the brutal reality of working in an ambulance service. After watching yet another patient die needlessly in the back of his ambulance, Daniel Waterhouse became a whistleblower. That decision would end his career with the NHS at the age of only 30. Waterhouse, from Finchley, north London, said his decision to go undercover for a Channel 4 Dispatches programme to be broadcast on Thursday was not easy. “I thought about it for quite a while,” said Waterhouse, an emergency medical technician who wore hidden cameras and microphones while on shift for the East of England Ambulance Service. “It was a moral choice, and there’s a caveat to that as well, because going undercover in those situations could be considered immoral and will draw criticism I’m sure. “But I think patient safety outweighs that, and those occasions were so strong in my head that I thought, ‘If only some change can happen, where some people don’t have to go through that and die or suffer permanent disability, then it would be worth it’.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 3 March 2023
×
×
  • Create New...