1. Whistleblowing UK Health and Safety Representatives Conference October 15 2010

2. “The longer I worked the more certain I felt that, as improbable as it might seem, there were moments when an individual conscience was all that could keep a world from falling”

3. Dame Janet Smith - Shipman Report – 2004 “I believe that the willingness of one healthcare professional to take responsibility for raising concerns about the conduct, performance or health of another could make a greater potential contribution to patient safety than any other single factor”

4. Whistleblowing v Grievance u Whistle blowing is generally about a ‘risk, malpractice or wrongdoing which affects others’ – the complainant is generally a ‘witness’ u Grievance is generally about an individuals own employment position. The person is normally a ‘complainant’

5. Some ‘headline’ events u Zeebbruge u Piper Alpha u Graham Pink u Bristol u Margaret Haywood u Stanley Adams u Dr Harold Shipman u Maidstone and TW u Mid Staffordshire

6. Brief recent History u 1993 NHS Guidance u 1995 Nolan report u 1997 NHS Reminder and second Nolan report u 1999 PIDA plus new part IV(15)a to ERA 1996 u NHS ‘Policy Pack’ on Whistleblowing u 1999 PID (Prescribed Persons) Order u 2003 NHS pack (HSC 1999/198) u April 2010 ETs can report to ‘regulators’ eg SFO u ‘Raising Concerns’ RCN Campaign Congress 2009 u SPF NHS Guidance June 2010 u AFC Section 21: Right to raise Concerns September 2010 u NMC Guidance November 2010

7. Nolan – seven principles of standards in public life u Selflessness u Integrity u Objectivity u Accountability u Openness u Honesty u Leadership

8. Nolan: W/Blowing policy should make clear u That the organisation takes malpractice seriously – gives examples and distinguishes a w/blow issue from a grievance u Concerns can be raised outside of ‘line management’ u Access to confidential advice from an independent body u Will respect confidentiality if requested u When and how concerns may be raised outside the employer eg with a regulator u It is a disciplinary matter to victimise a w/blower or to make a false allegation

9. NMC “Code” – you know this! u Regulatory body for Nursing u “act without delay if you believe that you or a colleague or anyone else may be putting someone at risk” u “inform someone in authority if you experience problems that prevent you working within this code or other nationally agreed standards” u “report your concerns in writing if problems in the environment of care are putting people at risk” u July 2009: NMC meet with unions and others to improve advice – Guidance expected November 2010

10. PCAW/Nursing Standard Survey 2008 u ‘most nurses will speak up even if means personal risk to themselves’ u 68% had concerns over ‘serious risk’ and 68% had raised them u 77% say culture ‘same or better than 1999’ u 85% said they would raise a concern

11. PCAW/Unison u 50% not know if there is a policy u 90% had ‘blown whistle’ u 33% said their managers would want/expect them to report u 30% said managers would not want ‘to know’ u 1/3 say suffered personal comeback u 25% said ‘culture improving’ u 50% felt issue ‘dealt with reasonably’ u Better results where there is a w/blowing policy

12. RCN Survey Congress 2009 u 50% of employers had a ‘whistleblowing policy’ and 82% knew how to access it u 21% felt they had been ‘discouraged from using policy u 63% had raised concerns u 99% understood the NMC duty u 43% would report even if it meant putting themselves at risk

13. Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 - PIDA u Effective from July 1999 u “An act to protect individuals who make certain disclosures of information in the public interest; to allow such individuals to bring action in respect of victimisation; and for other connected purposes” u No gagging clauses for ‘protected disclosure issues’ u Must show ‘qualifying disclosure’ u Suffered detriment (or dismissal)

14. PIDA Coverage u ‘Workers’ u No service requirement u No cap on compensation u Must be ‘reasonable belief’, raised in ‘good faith’ and ‘in the public interest’ u Does not require that a Whistleblowing policy be in place u Automatic unfair dismissal if dismissal for a ‘protected disclosure’

16. PIDA ‘Protected Disclosure’ u Required to attract the protection of the legislation; u Significance of the good faith requirement u Three tiered disclosure regime u i) disclosure to employer (or third party) in reasonable belief and good faith u ii) disclosure in good faith, with reasonable belief and believed to be substantially true to a prescribed person u iii) disclosure in good faith where believe to be true to persons other than the above and not for personal gain u exceptionally serious

17. PIDA – Disclosure (Tier i) u Criminal offence – has, is or will be u Has, is or will fail to comply with legal obligation u That a miscarriage of justice has, is or is likely to occur u That H&S is being or is likely to be endangered u That the environment is or is likely to be damaged u That information tending to show any of the above has been, is being or likely to be concealed’

18. ‘Regulatory Disclosure’ (Tier ii) u Disclosure can be made in certain circumstances to a person prescribed by the Secretary of State e.g. u PID (Prescribed Persons) Order 1999 u HMRC, Charity Commission, HSE, IFA, SFO, u Can be made even if no internal disclosure - raised – in good faith, reasonable belief and substantially true

19. ‘Wider disclosure’ (Tier iii) u Wider public interest disclosure u E.G. MPs press/ media u Good faith, believe to be true, not for personal gain and must be reasonable in all the circumstances. u Other than in the case of an ‘exceptionally serious issue’ must be disclosed first to employer or a prescribed body or reasonably fear a detriment or fear that evidence will be concealed or destroyed by employer

20. PCAW 10 year review u 7000 claims lodged at ET for victimisation u 3000 Judgements u 70% of claims settled u Of the rest 78% lost and 22% won u In 1999 157 PIDA claims and 1761 in 2009

21. Health and Safety Executive u HSE strongly supports measures which protect whistleblowers from any form of victimisation. HSE has a complaints handling system to ensure that concerns about health and safety are dealt with effectively and efficiently. HSE and local authority staff do all that they can to preserve the confidentiality of workers who raise concerns about health and safety, whenever this is requested.

22. Raising Concerns 2009

23. RCN “Raising Concerns” u 0845 772 6300 u Speak to your line manager u Patient records u Incident Report Forms u Clinical Meetings / Supervision u H&Safety Committee u RCN Representative

24. How to respond? u Don’t be ‘lone ranger’ – involve the RCN u Data/information u Negotiate a whistleblowing policy u Communicate in writing and get employer etc to put position in writing u Use agreed procedures

25. RCN Frontline First u Waste in the service u Job and service reductions u Nursing innovation / solutions u http://frontlinefirst.rcn.org.uk/

26. Support for patient and staff safety u Patient safety Module on RCN Learning Zone u NPSA: Foresight Training Programme u Safety Climate Assessment Tool (SCAT) u Infection prevention and control Minimum Standards 2008 u Dignity Campaign u Nutrition Now

27. RCN u RCN guidance for workplace representatives on work related stress u RCN e-learning on Violence u RCN Work related violence toolkit

28. PCAW u Independent Charity u Advice and Support u Give advice to people on crime, danger or wrong doing at work u NHS contract u SPF ‘Speak up for a healthy NHS’ July 2010 u www.pcaw.co.uk www.pcaw.co.uk u 0207 404 6609

29. u http://www.hse.gov.uk/workers/whistl eblowing.htm http://www.hse.gov.uk/workers/whistl eblowing.htm u http://frontlinefirst.rcn.org.uk/ http://frontlinefirst.rcn.org.uk/ u www.pcaw.co.uk www.pcaw.co.uk u http://www.nmc-uk.org/Publications-/

30. “The longer I worked the more certain I felt that, as improbable as it might seem, there were moments when an individual conscience was all that could keep a world from falling”