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December 2021
Hello from the National Guardian




Dr Jayne Chidgey-Clark
It is a real privilege to take up the role of National Guardian for the NHS.

My thanks go to Dr Henrietta Hughes for all her dedicated work over the last five years. Together with the National Guardian Office team and with all our Freedom to Speak Up Guardians, sure foundations have been established. There are now over 800 guardians in nearly 500 organisations. The network has spread beyond trusts and into primary care, dental and optometry services, independent providers, hospices and national bodies. To date they have supported over 55,000 workers to speak up about anything which gets in the way of them doing their job.
Read the rest of Dr Chidgey-Clark's first blog as National Guardian
Freedom to Speak Up for social care

The National Guardian welcomes plans to explore ways in which Freedom to Speak up Guardians can be introduced in the social care sector.

The Department for Health and Social Care has published the Adult Social Care Reform White Paper People at the Heart of Care Adult Social Care Reform’ setting out their new programme of improvements for adult social care. As part of a focus on wellbeing, the White Paper sets out plans to explore ways in which Freedom to Speak up Guardians can be introduced in the social care sector. 

Dr Chidgey-Clark said, “Subject to funding, we welcome the opportunity to explore how the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian role can be introduced in social care. We look forward to working with DHSC and social care colleagues as we develop this work.”
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100 Voices: Supporting student nurses to speak up
 

A group of student nurses on placement on a ward at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust felt they were not getting the learning and training opportunities they were meant to be receiving.
These student nurses spoke up to Kate Hanlon, Freedom to Speak Up Guardian at UHBW. In our latest 100 Voices story, Kate shares how the student nurses were supported, and the actions put in place by the organisation to improve the experience for all workers.
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Northumbria Healthcare wins Freedom to Speak Up Award

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust won the Freedom to Speak Up Organisation of the Year at the 2021 HSJ Awards.

Kirsty Dickson, Freedom to Speak Up Guardian at Northumbria, collected the award from Sir Robert Francis at the HSJ Awards ceremony in London. 

There were nine finalists this year and they presented to a judging panel in a bid to win the award. All finalists demonstrated good practice, but Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust were highly commended by the panel. 

You can read more about the Freedom to Speak Up work at Northumbria in the case study below.
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Weaving Freedom to Speak Up into the fabric of the whole organisation
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust were awarded the Freedom to Speak Up Organisation of the Year Award at the HSJ Awards with their demonstration of an integrated approach to speaking up.
In this case study, you can read about the proactive work that Kirsty Dickson and the Freedom to Speak Up team at Northumbria are doing to ensure speaking up is woven into the fabric of the organisation.
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Response to West Suffolk Review

The NGO welcomes the publication by NHS England and NHS Improvement of the report of the independent investigation to review into raising concerns at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. 

The findings of the review illustrate what happens when speaking up is viewed as a threat, when those who speak up are the focus, rather than the matters raised. 

Dr Chidgey-Clark said, “The review into the events at West Suffolk are a reminder to all organisations to respond in the spirit of the principles of Freedom to Speak Up when workers speak up – wherever, however and whoever they speak up to. 

“If workers do not feel they have the freedom to speak up, that they will be listened to without judgement, and that actions will be investigated impartially, quality and safety suffers. 

“The CQC’s decision to downgrade the Trust’s rating illustrates the centrality of Speak Up, Listen Up, Follow Up behaviours to any assessment of an organisation’s safety and quality.”
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Speaking up can be difficult, not speaking up could be fatal

The Royal College of Anaesthetists is launching a campaign, 'No Trace = Wrong Place', to prevent further deaths following a coroner's report.

In this guest blog, they explain the importance of speaking up and how this could end up saving lives.
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Contacting the NGO

Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for further updates. Or email enquiries@nationalguardianoffice.org.uk.

All enquiries will be acknowledged and we will aim to provide a full response within 20 working days.

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