NHS staff who speak out about bad practice should have more protection, according to a leading barrister.
Sir Robert Francis, who led the inquiry into a series of patient deaths at Stafford Hospital between 2005 and 2008, has claimed that – despite attempts to encourage people to speak up – many still suffer negative consequences from whistleblowing.
A BBC news investigation found that senior staff who raised issues were sometimes victimised or turned on by management, even though the number of whistleblowers coming forward went up by a quarter in 2022 to 25,000.
In 2022, another investigation revealed that staff at University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) NHS Trust were punished for reporting concerns. Over 10 years, the trust reported 26 doctors to the General Medical Council, but in all cases the GMC took no action.
One senior medic, eye surgeon Tristan Reuser, raised concerns that he did not have enough nurses to support him on key operations; he later won an employment tribunal for wrongful dismissal.
NHS whistleblowers
Many trusts, including UHB, employ “freedom to speak up guardians” since the deaths at and subsequent inquiry into Mid Staffordshire Trust.
Sir Robert told the BBC that he did not feel these measures were enough to protect whistleblowers, however.
“There is a danger of it happening again when pressures similar to those that existed at the time of Mid Staffs come about,” he said.
“But I think the way to stop it is to think all the time about the culture and make sure you’ve got an open culture, a supportive one and one that treats the patient first by listening to the staff’s concerns about them.”
He added: “Principally, it is a matter of the leadership of the organisations, because the leadership, by which I mean the chief executive, the board, have to buy into and understand what this is all about.
“And probably people at that level – of a certain type – find it difficult to let go of control and one of the things about allowing people to speak up is… you’re not entirely in control.”
Dr Jayne Chidgey-Clark, who is NHS National Guardian and in charge of protecting whistleblowers in England, agreed that managers in the NHS do not provide enough protection for those who raise concerns.
She said the main regulator for the NHS, the Care Quality Commission, could do more to protect individual whistleblowers and highlight poor management.
“I do call on them to do everything they can within their power to ensure there is accountability and these serious issues are looked into because without that, more high-profile cases will happen and, potentially, more patient harm and worker harm will happen,” she said.
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“And in our society, in our healthcare system, we don’t want to see that. Nobody should suffer for doing the right thing.”
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