Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that hospitals do not discourage whistleblowing by staff; and if he will take steps to issue a UK NHS-wide policy on that matter.

Dr Daniel Poulter

We have been absolutely clear that National Health Service staff who speak out in the interests of patient safety must be protected and listened to and that we expect all NHS organisations to have whistleblowing policies in place that are compliant with the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. On 5 March this year, my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to Chairs in NHS trusts and foundation trusts in England to express his strong views on this matter and to reiterate the vital importance of fostering a culture of openness and transparency in the NHS.

In addition, the Department recently commissioned the Whistleblowing Helpline to update whistleblowing guidance for the NHS. This revised guidance “Raising Concerns at Work – Whistleblowing Guidance for workers and employers in Health and Social Care” was published on 17 March 2014. This guidance transparently sets out the policies and processes for staff and employers in a single document and is available via their website or as a hard copy. This guidance can be found on their website.

www.wbhelpline.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Raising-Concerns-at-Work.pdf

Employment law and policy (of which whistleblowing law and policy is a part), and health law and policy, are devolved matters in Northern Ireland. In Scotland and Wales employment law is not devolved, but health law is. Decisions about implementation of whistleblowing policy in the NHS in each part of the United Kingdom are therefore a matter for each of those areas.