Due to some cancellations in the programme, I will write about the meeting I had this morning, with Clare Atkinson.
Just recently, the NHS had made a note in which the current rights and procedures for NHS staff to raise concerns about safety, malpractice or wrongdoing at work (popularly known as “whistleblowing”) are set out. Serious failures in care such as those at Stafford Hospital (part of the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust) and at Winterbourne View private hospital have focussed attention on whistleblowing policies and the need to ensure that staff feel able to raise concerns (and that reported concerns are acted on). The BCH was the second Trust to appoint an Ambassador of Cultural Change, Clare, to make sure staff could raise any kind of concerns.
What started of as a two day job, Clare tells there is more work to be done. At first she had to convince people to come to her to raise their concerns, but now they feel confident enough to talk. It is quite interesting to see the BCH has invested in such a person. For me it shows ‘they do as they say’ in their People Strategy. I am not sure how staff in the Spaarne Gasthuis feel about raising concerns. What I do know that this is an issue in the Facilities. Even though we, as managers, think we are quite approachable, I don’t think the staff always feel confident enough to do so. An Ambassador for Cultural Change would definitely be helpful.
