Bullying, Harassment, Freedom to Speak Up, NDAs, Serious Incidents, Board Oversight
Dear West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust,
Please provide the information requested below via email with attachments as appropriate.
1. How many allegations of workplace bullying formal or otherwise, as defined by WSFT policy, have been made by employees, agency, interim and contracted staff in the calendar years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 to date.
2. How many allegations of workplace harassment formal or otherwise, as defined by WSFT policy, have been made by employees, agency, interim and contracted staff in the calendar years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 to date.
3. How many agreements variously described as Settlement Agreements, Non-Disclosure Agreements, Confidentiality Agreements, Gagging Orders or similar has WSFT entered into with employees, agency, interim and contracted staff in the calendar years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 to date.
4. How many cases have been recorded in the central record under the Trust’s ‘Freedom to Speak Up, Whistleblowing, Staff Concerns about Patient Care and Other Healthcare Related Matters’ policy in the calendar years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 to date.
5. How many cases reported under the Freedom to Speak Up policy have resulted in the raising of a formal Serious Incident under the Trust’s Serious Incident Framework in the calendar years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 to date.
6. Please provide copies of high level ‘Board Oversight’ reports in respect of Freedom to Speak Up matters provided to the Board in the calendar years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 to date.
Yours faithfully,
Rob Zimmerman
Freedom of Information Request Acknowledgement
Thank you for your request which was received by us on 28th February 2020
Under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 we are required to provide a response within 20 working days. You should expect to receive a response by 27th March 2020
We will advise you if we do not hold the information requested or if an exemption applies.
Your request has been given the reference number FOI 20-13710
FOI Team
T: 01284 712941 | Ext: 2941
West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
Hardwick Lane|Bury St Edmunds|SUFFOLK|IP33 2QZ
Dear FOI Team,
Notwithstanding delays arising from the impact of the Covid19 situation would you please confirm when you anticipate being able to provide a full response to the now long overdue FOI request.
Yours sincerely,
Rob Zimmerman
Dear FOI,
Can you kindly confirm when a formal response to this request will be issued.
Yours sincerely,
Rob Zimmerman
Dear Rob Zinnerman
Apologies for the delay.
I am writing to confirm that the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust has now
completed its search for the information which you requested on 27^th
February 2020
1. How many allegations of workplace bullying formal or
otherwise, as defined by WSFT policy, have been made by employees, agency,
interim and contracted staff in the calendar years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018,
2019, 2020 to date.
o 2015 – 0
o 2016 – 4
o 2017 – 0
o 2018 – 2
o 2019 – 3
o 2020 – 2
2. How many allegations of workplace harassment formal or
otherwise, as defined by WSFT policy, have been made by employees, agency,
interim and contracted staff in the calendar years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018,
2019, 2020 to date. There have been two cases, one in 2020 and the other
in 2018 and both were dealt with under the Trust’s disciplinary policy.
3. How many agreements variously described as Settlement
Agreements, Non-Disclosure Agreements, Confidentiality Agreements, Gagging
Orders or similar has WSFT entered into with employees, agency, interim
and contracted staff in the calendar years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019,
2020 to date. The Trust does not use non-disclosure agreements and all
settlement agreements expressly state that the requirement for
confidentiality excludes matters of public interest i.e. whistleblowing.
4. How many cases have been recorded in the central record
under the Trust’s ‘Freedom to Speak Up, Whistleblowing, Staff Concerns
about Patient Care and Other Healthcare Related Matters’ policy in the
calendar years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 to date.
. 2015 0 Not in post
2016 0 Not in post
2017 1^st April onwards 4
1 case regarding Patient, Staff and Visitor
safety
2018 1^st January 2018 onwards 12
2 cases regarding Patient safety
2019 1st January 2019 onwards 14
1 case regarding Patient safety
1 case regarding Patient safety practice
2020 1^st January 2020 to date 3
1 case pending regarding Patient safety
practice.
5. How many cases reported under the Freedom to Speak Up policy
have resulted in the raising of a formal Serious Incident under the
Trust’s Serious Incident Framework in the calendar years
2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 to date. None
6. Please provide copies of high level ‘Board Oversight’
reports in respect of Freedom to Speak Up matters provided to the Board in
the calendar years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 to date.
Exemption under Section 21 – Information accessible by
other means, Please be aware this information is available on our Website,
under open board papers.
The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your
own purposes, including any non-commercial research and for the purposes
of news reporting. Any other reuse, for example commercial publication,
would require the permission of the copyright holder.
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision,
you should write to:
Chief Executive
West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
Hardwick Lane
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk IP33 2QZ
If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may request
the Information Commissioner’s Office to carry out a review.
Kind regards
Jenny Hards
Senior Information Governance Officer
T: 01284 712941 | Ext: 2941 Mon-Thur 8.30-3pm
West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
Hardwick Lane|Bury St Edmunds|SUFFOLK|IP33 2QZ
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scanned by Trustwave SEG - Trustwave's comprehensive email content
security solution.
Dear Jenny Hards,
I refer to your response dated 15th July 2020.
In respect of point 3, please specifically confirm the number of agreements entered into by the WSFT with employees, agency, interim and contracted staff in the calendar years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019,
2020 to date.
Yours sincerely,
Rob Zimmerman
Good Morning,
Apologies for the delay, please find as requested below.
Please see requested information below:
2015 – 2
2016 – 1
2017 – 1
2020 – 1
Regards,
Jenny
Jenny Hards| Senior Information Governance Officer
Cedar House
West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
Hardwick Lane|Bury St Edmunds|SUFFOLK|IP33 2QZ
Requests received after 3pm will be logged the following working day
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now