Report to the Meeting of the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust Board of Directors 26 October 2016 Freedom to Speak Up Guardian - Report of first 6 months of the role in the Trust For: Information Executive Summary The Freedom to Speak Up Guardian is a new role in the NHS and was a recommendation of the Freedom to Speak Up Review by Sir Robert Francis published in 2015. The Freedom to Speak Up Guardian came into post in this Trust in April 2016. This is a report directly to the Board on the first six months activity. The Freedom to Speak Up Guardian is a part-time post, 2 days a week, that provides independent and confidential support to staff that want to raise concerns and promotes a culture in which feel staff safe to raise those concerns. There have been 29 cases of concerns raised over the first 6 months of the role most of which have been resolved locally. In addition, other activities have been undertaken to raise awareness of the role and to encourage cultural change in the Trust. The postholder has also contributed to the national developments in the role. Whilst it is too early to evaluate the impact of the role, there has only been one formal whistleblowing investigation started since April and no concerns have been raised by members of staff with the Care Quality Commission. These may be early signs of the Trust’s staff feeling more confident to raise concerns in their workplace.
Report to the Meeting of the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust Board of Directors 26 October 2016 Freedom to Speak Up Guardian - Report of first 6 months of the role in the Trust For: Information Executive Summary The Freedom to Speak Up Guardian is a new role in the NHS and was a recommendation of the Freedom to Speak Up Review by Sir Robert Francis published in 2015. The Freedom to Speak Up Guardian came into post in this Trust in April 2016. This is a report directly to the Board on the first six months activity. The Freedom to Speak Up Guardian is a part-time post, 2 days a week, that provides independent and confidential support to staff that want to raise concerns and promotes a culture in which feel staff safe to raise those concerns. There have been 29 cases of concerns raised over the first 6 months of the role most of which have been resolved locally. In addition, other activities have been undertaken to raise awareness of the role and to encourage cultural change in the Trust. The postholder has also contributed to the national developments in the role. Whilst it is too early to evaluate the impact of the role, there has only been one formal whistleblowing investigation started since April and no concerns have been raised by members of staff with the Care Quality Commission. These may be early signs of the Trust’s staff feeling more confident to raise concerns in their workplace.
123_BoD-Freedom-to-Speak-Up-Guardian-Report-Public-v1.1_Oct-16_with-added-numbers-7.11.16.docx