XMAS FOI On NHS Whistleblowing

Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards did not have the information requested.

Dear Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards,

I have done some research and found there are a number of pieces of guidance on how best to ‘whistleblow ‘in the NHS.
Examples include:
1) Each trust is expected to have a’ whistleblowing’ policy modelled on 2003 Department of Health Guidance.
2)Other ‘whistleblowing’ guidance that is issued to general practitioners by NHS employers after the Shipman Inquiry and a Code of Practice published in 2008 by the British Standards and Public Concern at Work .
3 )A Doctor’s duty to report concerns is set out in the General Medical Council’s Good Medical Practice published in 2006 supported by supplementary guidance Raising Concerns About Patient Safety.
‘43. You must protect patients from risk of harm posed by another colleague’s conduct,
performance or health. The safety of patients must come first at all times. If you have
concerns that a colleague may not be fit to practise, you must take appropriate steps
without delay, so that the concerns are investigated and patients protected where
necessary. This means you must give an honest explanation of your concerns to an
appropriate person from your employing or contracting body, and follow their
procedures.
44. If there are no appropriate local systems, or local systems do not resolve the problem,
and you are still concerned about the safety of patients, you should inform the relevant
regulatory body. If you are not sure what to do, discuss your concerns with an impartial
colleague or contact your defence body, a professional organisation, or the GMC for
advice.
45. If you have management responsibilities you should make sure that systems are in place
through which colleagues can raise concerns about risks to patients, and you must
follow the guidance in Management for doctors.
So raising concerns is not just a matter of personal conscience – in some circumstances it is a
professional obligation.’

4) Under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 ‘whistleblowers’ get legal protection against victimisation or dismissal for exposing malpractice at work. This piece of legislation followed a succession of cases where whistleblowers had been ignored , including the problems at Bristol Royal Infirmary ,where 29 babies and children died after heart surgery .
5) Until 1 April 2010 it was optional for NHS trusts to report serious untoward incidents to the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA).Since then there has been a duty to report introduced by the Care Quality Commission Registration Regulations 2009 ...a more demanding duty :
“This is a duty which is accomapied by sanctions in the criminal law for failure to report –and th ephraes in the regulations is ‘without delay’ –deaths which cannot be explained by the normal course of the illness the patient is suffering from.
And then equally significantly there’s a further duty ,again, to report events which appear –before anybody which has actually been injured or died from events in hospital –systems need to be in place which would expose patients to that sort of risk.’
THE QUESTIONS RAISED BY THIS FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST ARE :
1) Is there any case law or any other pieces of legislation or other pieces of NHS or professional guidance which protect any possible ‘whistleblower.’?
2) Does the duty to inform of ‘wrongdoing’ extend to other staff: legal advisors,managers and social workers ,nurses and care assistants as well as doctors as well?Does it include a duty to inform of potential ‘wrongdoing’ that has come to light in other trusts and the like?
3) What punishment is meted out to those who knew of alleged wrongdoing and remained silent?
4) How many staff members have ‘whistleblown’ in your organisation?
Which department were they in?
How many are still employed there?
What were the outcomes of the attempt to ‘whistleblow’?

5) Despite pieces of legislation and professional guidance such as these nearly 90% of severance packages between NHS Trusts and departing doctors contain confidentiality clauses.The charity Public Concern at Work states that the law protects whistleblowers even if they have signed confidentiality arrangements.
a) How many confidentiality arrangements have been reached with former staff members?
b) What was the value of each agreement?
c) Does the 1998 Public Interest Disclosure Act make it illegal for NHS Trusts and other public bodies to include confidentiality clauses preventing the disclosure of information that is in the public interest? If not do they still have a duty to inform their professional body or indeed anyone else? Does this extend to any ‘act or omission’ (a term used in the Human Rights Act ) on the part of your organisation?
Yours sincerely
Paul Gaffney LLB BA
Ipswich
Suffolk

Yours faithfully,

Paul GaffneyLLB BA

Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards

Mr Gaffney,

I have been asked to respond to your enquiry.

The Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards is an independent
advisory body supported by a full-time Secretariat of Civil Servants in the
Department of Health in England. It is not an NHS body and does not employ
NHS personnel directly. It is not covered by NHS legislation.

Some members of the ACCEA regional sub-committees are professional and
employer representatives. These members are not employed by ACCEA and are
subject to the employment conditions of their own Trust or organisation.

ACCEA is therefore not in a position to answer your questions. We advise
you to redirected to the NHS or directly to the Department of Health.

Regards

Louise

F Louise Gillespie
Business Manager
Advisory Cttee on Clinical Excellence Awards
622a, Skipton House
T: 020 797 21559
----- Forwarded by Louise Gillespie/PR-OFF/DOH/GB on 14/12/2010 11:31 -----

SpecialistSocieti
es/OIS/DOH
Sent by: Maggie To
Bishop/CQEG/DOH/G Louise Gillespie/PR-OFF/DOH/GB@DOH
B cc

Subject
13/12/2010 09:48 Fw: Freedom of Information request
- XMAS FOI On NHS Whistleblowing





----- Forwarded by Maggie Bishop/CQEG/DOH/GB on 13/12/2010 09:45 -----

Paul Gaffney
<request-54347-32
678fc3@whatdothey To
know.com> SpecialistSocieties/OIS/DOH@DOH
cc
12/12/2010 14:43
Subject
Freedom of Information request -
XMAS FOI On NHS Whistleblowing





Dear Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards,

I have done some research and found there are a number of pieces of
guidance on how best to ‘whistleblow ‘in the NHS.
Examples include:
1) Each trust is expected to have a’ whistleblowing’ policy
modelled on 2003 Department of Health Guidance.
2)Other ‘whistleblowing’ guidance that is issued to general
practitioners by NHS employers after the Shipman Inquiry and a Code
of Practice published in 2008 by the British Standards and Public
Concern at Work .
3 )A Doctor’s duty to report concerns is set out in the General
Medical Council’s Good Medical Practice published in 2006 supported
by supplementary guidance Raising Concerns About Patient Safety.
‘43. You must protect patients from risk of harm posed by another
colleague’s conduct,
performance or health. The safety of patients must come first at
all times. If you have
concerns that a colleague may not be fit to practise, you must take
appropriate steps
without delay, so that the concerns are investigated and patients
protected where
necessary. This means you must give an honest explanation of your
concerns to an
appropriate person from your employing or contracting body, and
follow their
procedures.
44. If there are no appropriate local systems, or local systems do
not resolve the problem,
and you are still concerned about the safety of patients, you
should inform the relevant
regulatory body. If you are not sure what to do, discuss your
concerns with an impartial
colleague or contact your defence body, a professional
organisation, or the GMC for
advice.
45. If you have management responsibilities you should make sure
that systems are in place
through which colleagues can raise concerns about risks to
patients, and you must
follow the guidance in Management for doctors.
So raising concerns is not just a matter of personal conscience –
in some circumstances it is a
professional obligation.’

4) Under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 ‘whistleblowers’
get legal protection against victimisation or dismissal for
exposing malpractice at work. This piece of legislation followed a
succession of cases where whistleblowers had been ignored ,
including the problems at Bristol Royal Infirmary ,where 29 babies
and children died after heart surgery .
5) Until 1 April 2010 it was optional for NHS trusts to report
serious untoward incidents to the National Patient Safety Agency
(NPSA).Since then there has been a duty to report introduced by the
Care Quality Commission Registration Regulations 2009 ...a more
demanding duty :
“This is a duty which is accomapied by sanctions in the criminal
law for failure to report –and th ephraes in the regulations is
‘without delay’ –deaths which cannot be explained by the normal
course of the illness the patient is suffering from.
And then equally significantly there’s a further duty ,again, to
report events which appear –before anybody which has actually been
injured or died from events in hospital –systems need to be in
place which would expose patients to that sort of risk.’
THE QUESTIONS RAISED BY THIS FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST ARE
:
1) Is there any case law or any other pieces of legislation or
other pieces of NHS or professional guidance which protect any
possible ‘whistleblower.’?
2) Does the duty to inform of ‘wrongdoing’ extend to other staff:
legal advisors,managers and social workers ,nurses and care
assistants as well as doctors as well?Does it include a duty to
inform of potential ‘wrongdoing’ that has come to light in other
trusts and the like?
3) What punishment is meted out to those who knew of alleged
wrongdoing and remained silent?
4) How many staff members have ‘whistleblown’ in your organisation?
Which department were they in?
How many are still employed there?
What were the outcomes of the attempt to ‘whistleblow’?

5) Despite pieces of legislation and professional guidance such as
these nearly 90% of severance packages between NHS Trusts and
departing doctors contain confidentiality clauses.The charity
Public Concern at Work states that the law protects whistleblowers
even if they have signed confidentiality arrangements.
a) How many confidentiality arrangements have been reached with
former staff members?
b) What was the value of each agreement?
c) Does the 1998 Public Interest Disclosure Act make it illegal for
NHS Trusts and other public bodies to include confidentiality
clauses preventing the disclosure of information that is in the
public interest? If not do they still have a duty to inform their
professional body or indeed anyone else? Does this extend to any
‘act or omission’ (a term used in the Human Rights Act ) on the
part of your organisation?
Yours sincerely
Paul Gaffney LLB BA
Ipswich
Suffolk

Yours faithfully,

Paul GaffneyLLB BA

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be
published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offic...

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #54347 email]

Is [ACCEA request email] the wrong address for Freedom
of Information requests to Advisory Committee on Clinical
Excellence Awards? If so please contact us using this form:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/contact

If you find WhatDoTheyKnow useful as an FOI officer, please ask
your web manager to suggest us on your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

This email was received from the INTERNET and scanned by the Government
Secure Intranet anti-virus service supplied by Cable&Wireless in
partnership with MessageLabs. (CCTM Certificate Number 2006/04/0007.)

DH users see Email virus scanning on Delphi under Security in DH, for
further details. In case of problems, please call the IT support helpdesk.

- - Disclaimer - -
This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential. If you are
not the intended recipient, any reading, printing, storage, disclosure,
copying or any other action taken in respect of this e-mail is prohibited
and may be unlawful. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify
the sender immediately by using the reply function and then permanently
delete what you have received.

Incoming and outgoing e-mail messages are routinely monitored for
compliance with the Department of Health's policy on the use of electronic
communications. For more information on the Department of Health's e-mail
policy click here http://www.dh.gov.uk/terms

The original of this email was scanned for viruses by the Government Secure Intranet virus scanning service supplied by Cable&Wireless Worldwide in partnership with MessageLabs. (CCTM Certificate Number 2009/09/0052.) On leaving the GSi this email was certified virus free.
Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or recorded for legal purposes.

hide quoted sections