Whistleblowing Policy – Freedom to Speak Up

1.1. NHS Portsmouth Clinical Commissioning Group (“The CCG”) are committed to conducting business with honesty and integrity and expect all staff to maintain high standards, in accordance with our values and HR framework. However, all organisations face the risk of things going wrong from time to time, or of unknowingly harbouring illegal or unethical conduct. A culture of openness and accountability is therefore essential in order to prevent such situations occurring or to address them when they do occur.

1.2. The recommendations of “Freedom to Speak Up”, the independent review commissioned by the Secretary of State and chaired by Sir Robert Francis QC into whistleblowing in the NHS were published in 2015. The purpose of the review was to provide independent advice and recommendations on creating a more open and honest reporting culture in the NHS.

The review recommended a ‘standard integrated policy’, aimed at improving the experience of whistleblowing and creating an open and honest reporting culture in the NHS.

1.3. The Portsmouth CCG local process has been integrated into the NHS standard integrated policy resulting in this CCG policy – “Whistleblowing Policy – Freedom to Speak Up”.

2.1. Speaking up about any concern at work is really important because it will help us to keep improving our services and the working environment for our staff.

2.2. Don’t wait for proof. We would like you to raise the matter while it is still a concern. It doesn’t matter if it turns out you were mistaken, as long as you are genuinely troubled.

2.3. You may feel worried about raising a concern, and we understand this, but please don’t be put off. In accordance with our duty of candour, our senior leaders and board are committed to an open and honest culture. We will look into your concern and you will always have access to the support you need.

3.1. You can raise a concern about risk, malpractice or wrongdoing. A few
examples of this might include (but are not restricted to):

• Breach of the law or committing an offence.
• Failure to comply with any legal (or professional) obligation or regulatory requirements.
• Suspicion of fraud.
• Approaches of bribery.
• Unauthorised disclosure of confidential information.
• A bullying culture (across a team or organisation rather than individual instances of bullying which would be raised using the grievance, bullying and harassment policy).
• External issues with provision of care to patients, commissioned by Portsmouth CCG.

If you are concerned that people using the service are not being cared for properly or you have a concern about the safety of children or adults at risk, you can raise your concern with the local authority under their safeguarding procedures or whistleblowing to CQC (or another body).

Contact: – The Local Authority Designated Officer at
Safeguardingnotifications@portsmouthcc.gov.uk (Children)
Safeguardingadults@portsmouthcc.gov.uk (Adults)
CQC – 03000 616161 or email enquiries@cqc.org.uk
Website: Contact us | Care Quality Commission (cqc.org.uk)

3.2. Remember that if you are a healthcare professional you may have a
professional duty to report a concern.

3.3. If in doubt, please raise it.

3.4. This policy is not for raising a concern about an individual’s employment that affects only them. That type of concern is better suited to the grievance, bullying and harassment policy which can be located on the intranet.

4.1. If you raise a genuine concern under this policy, you will not be at risk of losing your job or suffering any form of reprisal as a result. We will not tolerate harassment or victimisation of anyone raising a concern, nor will we tolerate any attempt to bully you into not raising any such concern. Any such behaviour is a breach of our values as an organisation and, if upheld following investigation, could result in disciplinary action.

4.2. Provided you are acting honestly, it does not matter if you are mistaken or if there is an innocent explanation for your concerns.

4.3. We do not however extend this assurance to someone who maliciously raises a concern that they know is untrue. Any such conduct may be liable to disciplinary action or other appropriate action.

4.4. Raising a concern will not, in itself, halt any on-going disciplinary action or redundancy procedure that may have already started.

We hope you will feel comfortable raising your concern openly, but we also appreciate that you may want to raise it confidentially. This means that while you are willing for your identity to be known to the person you report your concern to, you do not want anyone else to know your identity. Therefore, we will keep your identity confidential, if that is what you want, unless required to disclose it by law (for example, by the police). You can choose to raise your concern anonymously, without giving anyone your name, but that may make it more difficult for us to investigate thoroughly and give you feedback on the outcome.

Anyone who works (or has worked) in the NHS, or for an independent organisation that provides NHS services can raise concerns. This includes agency workers, temporary workers, students, volunteers and governors.

7.1. You can raise your concerns with any of the people in Option 1 to 4 below, in person, by phone or in writing (including email). Whichever route you choose, please be ready to explain as fully as you can the information and circumstances that gave rise to your concern. If you want to raise the matter in confidence, please say so at the outset so
that appropriate arrangements can be made.

7.2. Option 1
In the first instance, you may feel comfortable raising the concern informally or formally with your line manager.

7.3. Option 2

7.3.1. If raising it with your line manager does not resolve the matter, or you do not feel able to raise it with your line manager, you can contact the local Freedom to Speak Up Guardian, Tina Scarborough, the Director of Quality and Safeguarding on:

Email: tina.scarborough@nhs.net
Telephone: 023 9289 9502 (internal extension 2502)

7.3.2. The local Freedom to Speak up Guardian is an important role identified in the Freedom to Speak Up review to act as an independent and impartial source of advice to staff at any stage of raising a concern, with access to anyone in the organisation, including senior staff, or if necessary, outside the organisation.

7.3.3. The local Freedom to Speak up Guardian has been given special responsibility and training in dealing with whistleblowing concerns. They will:

• Treat your concern confidentially unless otherwise agreed.
• Ensure you receive timely support to progress your concern.
• Escalate to the board any indications that you are being subjected to detriment for raising your concern.
• Remind the organisation of the need to give you timely feedback on how your concern is being dealt with.
• Ensure you have access to personal support since raising your concern may be stressful.

7.4. Option 3
If you still remain concerned or you do not feel able to raise it with the local Freedom to Speak up Guardian, you can contact a senior manager or a member of HR -;

• Chief Clinical Officer
• Chief Finance Officer
• Chair of the Audit Committee
• Chair of the Remuneration Committee
• HR

(Full contact details are set out at the end of this policy – Section 15).

All these people have been trained in receiving concerns and will give you information about where you can go for more support.

7.5. Option 4
If for any reason you do not feel comfortable raising your concern internally, you can raise the concern with an external body, listed at the end of the policy.

7.6. Advice and support
You can also contact:

• • The Whistleblowing helpline for the NHS and social care
    Free, independent, confidential advice on the speaking up process – Speak Up
    08000 724 725
  • Protect – Speak up, Stop harm
    Protect – Speak up stop harm | The Whistleblowing Charity (protect-advice.org.uk).  whistle@protectadvice.org.uk   020 3117 2520
  • Your professional body or trade union representative.

Full details are available at the end of this document.

Information is available on the NHS employer’s website at: Raising concerns (whistleblowing) – NHS Employers.

We are committed to the principles of the Freedom to Speak Up review and its vision for raising concerns, and will respond in line with them.

We are committed to listening to our staff, learning lessons and improving patient care. On receipt, the concern will be recorded and you will receive an acknowledgement without unreasonable delay. The central record will record the date the concern was received, whether you have requested confidentiality, a summary of the concerns and dates when we have given you updates or feedback.

Where the matter has not been resolved quickly with the line manager (usually within a few days), we will carry out a proportionate investigation – using someone suitably independent (usually from a different part of the organisation) and properly trained – and we will reach a conclusion within a reasonable timescale and notify you. Wherever possible, we will carry out a single investigation. The investigation will be objective and evidence-based, and will produce a report that focuses on identifying and rectifying any issues, and learning lessons to prevent problems recurring.

We may decide that your concern would be better suited to a different
process, and we will discuss this with you if necessary.

Any employment issues (that affect only you and not others) identified during the investigation will be considered separately.

We will treat you with respect at all times and will thank you for raising your concerns. We will discuss your concerns with you to ensure we understand exactly what you are worried about. We will tell you how long we expect the investigation to take and keep you up to date with its progress. Wherever possible, we will share the full investigation report with you (while respecting the confidentiality of others).

Where an investigation identifies improvements that can be made, we will track them to ensure necessary changes are made, and are working effectively. Lessons will be shared with teams across the service, or more
widely, as appropriate.

On behalf of the Governing Board, the Remuneration Committee will be given high level information about all concerns raised by our staff through this policy and what we are doing to address any problems. We will include similar high level information in our annual report. The board supports staff raising concerns and wants staff to feel free to speak up.

The Remuneration Committee has overall responsibility for the maintenance and operation of this policy and for reviewing the effectiveness of actions taken in response to concerns raised under this policy.

HR and CCG management have day to day operational responsibility for this policy, and must ensure that all managers and other staff who may deal with concerns or investigations under this policy receive regular and appropriate training.

This policy will be reviewed annually by CCG Management and HR.

Alternatively, you can raise your concern outside the organisation:

CCG Headquarters
4th Floor
1 Guildhall Square (Civic Offices)
Portsmouth
PO1

There are very specific criteria that need to be met for an individual to be covered by whistleblowing law when they raise a concern (to be able to claim the protection that accompanies it). There is also a defined list of ‘prescribed persons’, similar to the list of external bodies in a previous section, who you can make a protected disclosure to. To help you consider whether you might meet these criteria, please seek independent advice from the Whistleblowing Helpline for the NHS and social care, Protect – Speak up, Stop harm or a legal representative.

The National Guardian can independently review how staff have been treated having raised concerns.