Health Matters: 'Whistle-blowing is an important part of patient care and I will continue to support it'
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By Albert Donald
It is vital that everyone involved with delivering services for NHS Scotland, from employees to contractors, feels confident to speak up if there are concerns public interests are not being best served, for example when it comes to patient safety.
To help ensure people know they can raise issues and will be listened to, the National Whistleblowing Standards and the Independent National Whistleblowing Officer (INWO) service, covering the whole of NHS Scotland, went live in April.
The new standards are designed to be comprehensive and apply to anyone involved in delivery of an NHS service including employees, volunteers, contractors, students and partners. The national programme has replaced local policies in order to have consistency across the country.
As part of the implementation, NHS Highland has unveiled its Speak Up, Listen Up campaign to raise colleague awareness of whistle-blowing and other ways of raising concerns and giving feedback. Speak Up, Listen Up is about encouraging people to share their concerns, ensuring they are listened to, and that any issues raised are dealt with effectively.
I am proud to have taken on the independent and impartial role of whistle-blowing champion for NHS Highland and NHS Grampian. Following 38 years as a police officer in the north-east of Scotland, I became the independent chair of three different adult protection committees.
In February 2020, I was appointed to the board of NHS Highland and NHS Grampian as a non-executive director. The whistle-blowing champion role is a new board position designed to ensure national standards are being followed. It principally focuses on governance, assurance, compliance and oversight.
I have a genuine and sincere interest in fairness and making sure that, if someone has a concern, they feel confident to raise it without fear it will be detrimental to them.
My position will help ensure the organisation has the processes in place for people to come forward. At every stage of the process, individuals will be kept in the loop. If an individual is not happy with any aspect of the process, they can have recourse to the INWO which will look at circumstances and, if any issues are found, these will be referred to the board.
I hope that my role, along with new whistle-blowing standards, will give people the confidence and reassurance to come forward and report matters of public interest in the knowledge they can do so confidentially and will be supported throughout the process.
Ultimately, this is about making sure NHS Scotland is a safe environment with a positive culture, and this links directly to the delivery of high-quality services to patients and communities.
If issues have been raised as a matter of public concern, we must ensure we learn from that, and that the learning is shared and sustained. Every quarter, reports will go to the board with a breakdown of concerns to identify any emerging trends or common themes.
Everyone involved with NHS Scotland must recognise the importance of whistle-blowing for patient care. I am committed to playing my part in this process.
- Albert Donald is NHS Highland and NHS Grampian’s Whistleblowing Champion.
