This page is no longer updated -some of the content may be out of date (07.01.2021)

Turn Up The Volume! was a Patient Safety movement open to all. Our aim was:
To promote best practice in patient safety through listening openly to concerns of patients, staff, carers and relatives, and taking actions together.
Developments:
The All Party Parliamentary Group Report on Whistleblowing. Published on 15/07/2019Whistleblowing
The Personal Cost of Doing the Right Thing and the Cost to Society of Ignoring it
You can also download a pdf copy of the report from this page:
https://www.appgwhistleblowing.co.uk/
‘ #NHS to be banned from using NDAs to gag #whistleblowers ‘
‘The government’s proposed changes will also ensure workers who consent to a settlement agreement are entitled to independent advice, in an effort to prevent employees from being ‘duped’ into signing gagging orders they were not fully aware of.
The NHS reforms appear to go further, and come after radiographer Sue Allison successfully argued she had been asked to sign an NDA without legal advice after raising concerns about standards of care at Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.’
Source: https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/news/articles/nhs-to-be-banned-using-ndas-gag-whistleblowers (accessed 25/04/2019)
“I have never encountered an organisation as vicious in its treatment of whistleblowers as the NHS” – Margaret Heffernan
Click here for the audio – BMJ talk medicine
‘I don’t want to hear anything bad’ – whistleblowing in health & social care.
Really useful #vlog for anyone who has been bullied or experienced toxic behaviours from leaders (added 19.09.2019):
Added 09/09/2019
Welsh and English Ombusman call for inquiry into the death of Robbie Powell:
Previous posts:
Click here for the blog on TUTV! 2 London 26th May 2017
What is whistleblowing? Short video:
Previous posts:
A just culture (click on the image to enlarge it):
You can also find information and resources on twitter under #tutvlondon
Steve Bolsin speaking at TUTV! London 26th May 2017
Aims of the Turn Up The Volume! movement (Draft 1)
click on the image to enlarge it or for a pdf (printable) copy click here >>> TUTVAIMS
Turn up The Volume! movement aims
Useful resources:
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Click here for a the ’21 ways to skin a whistleblower’
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Narcissistic elites are undermining the institutions created to promote public interest – Article by Marianna Fotaki.
Research resources:
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Whistleblowing Impact
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Post disclosure survival strategies
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Effective speak up arrangements
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Impacts of whistleblowing (research carried out in 2013 – 2015)
Some resources to help counter bullying and undermining behaviour
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Reflections on whsitleblowing form event delegates, speakers and supporters
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Reflection on the event from Steve Turner (added 23/6/2017)
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The Loneliness of the NHS Whistleblower – Insight from Laurence Vick Legal Director at Enable Law.
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‘Actions not words needed..’ reflection on the event by Julie Fagan
External content:
These links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only. The author of bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.
‘Whistleblowing isn’t a problem to be solved or managed, it’s an opportunity to learn and improve.’
December 2016 – Click here for Steve Turner’s latest blog on whistleblowing
Click here for my story – Steve Turner
‘It takes more than just courage to report concerns about patient safety, as Steve Turner discovered firsthand. Now he wants to make that path smoother for others in the future.
When NHS staff can report concerns without fear, he says, we will have achieved what we have set out to do. Ultimately this about patients’ lives – and staff’s livelihoods.’
More information (England):
House of Commons Briefing paper 14th June 2017 NHS Whistleblowing procedure in England (pdf)
Click here for the CQC National Guardian Office
NHS Employers’ Freedom to Speak Up Hub
Click on the tabs below for more:
Home
Wendy Addison – Speak Out Speak Up from the 2016 Turn Up The Volume! Confernence
Joan Pons Laplana -My Story- from Turn Up the Volume!
Conference Highlights
Aims and Objectives
Aim and objectives
Conference aim:
To promote best practice in patient safety
Objectives:
DISCOVER: How to make care safer through listening openly to staff concerns
LEARN: Contribute to an online resource, suggest and implement actions
SHARE: Support and encourage each other to share best practice locally and nationally
UNDERSTAND: Reflect upon good practice and identify ways to take this forward
IMPROVE: Be able to articulate and promote the relationship between learning oranisations and patient safety
Great resources from our speakers
Great Resources from our speakers:
Happy Staff = Happy Patients from Dr Umesh Prabhu
http://issuu.com/healthcare_manager/docs/hcm25final
Regulation – What Whistleblowers Want – Dr Kim Holt
Time for truth and reconciliation in the NHS – Dr Kim Holt
http://m.hsj.co.uk/5060343.article
Video library
Video
Jenny Moore – Social Care the forgotten partner
A Powerful Message (courtesy of Your Voice Matters)
http://www.yourvoicematters.org.uk/#!powerful-message/ntdpg
What happens to whistleblowers in Britain from Nick Pidgeon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8jjf_9ypnI
Frequently asked questions about whistleblowing
Frequently Asked Questions about whistleblowing
‘This paper was last updated on 13/01/2015 prior to the publication of the Francis Report into the whistleblowing process. It remains relevant and important.” Steve Turner. Please read the disclaimer below.
Disclaimer
What is whistleblowing
Whistleblowing is when a worker reports suspected wrongdoing at work. Officially this is called ‘making a disclosure in the public interest’.
In the health service this could be as simple as raising a clinical incident about a system error or near miss. That would be what is known as “internal whistleblowing”
A health worker is expected as part of their duty of care to highlight issues that might impact upon a patient’s health, or increase risk to patients. This might include, reporting that the notes were unavailable, that there were understaffing problems, which impacted on the quality and safety of care, or lack of equipment, drug errors, or surgical errors, or that a vital service provision is to be cut.
Equally workers can report things that aren’t right, are illegal, e.g. fraud, or if anyone at work is neglecting their duties. In addition covering up mistakes or wrongdoing is something that an individual may feel compelled to speak about if it’s in the public interest.
Source: https://www.gov.uk/whistleblowing/overview
There have been concerns about recent changes to the legislation which has apparently made it harder for individuals to argue that their concerns were valid. It is our experience in Patients First that the majority of health service staff who raise concerns which are ignored or rejected are unable to access adequate support let alone legal advice, and too often are left feeling isolated and alone, which in itself is contrary to the spirit of the law.
Even when staff have followed all the appropriate steps in raising concerns may find themselves in trouble, and suffering detriment or victimisation, which impacts upon their health, and may be suspended, face disciplinary action, or even in some cases redundancy or sacking.
We have heard of numerous staff struggling to find other work having left a job in which they suffered for speaking up. This concerns us because the law seems to be unable to prevent further detriment once an individual has left their job.
How you go about raising concerns in the workplace will depend on the systems and support available for you to do this; the approach of your employers and the culture of the organisation.
If all usual routes fail and these concerns fail to be listened to and acted on then other methods can be used.
The Public Interest Disclosure Act [PIDA] makes no distinction between ‘raising concerns’ and going public, it is all ‘whistleblowing’ and makes no distinction between whether the concerns are raised internally or externally. Indeed all those who “blow the whistle” initially “raised concerns”.
Some NHS employers are working to a fundamentally wrong definition of whistleblower, making a false distinction between the ‘day to day practice’ of raising concerns, and blowing the whistle outside the organisation. This betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of both whistleblowing and the Public Interest Disclosure Act [PIDA].
Source: Submission by Patients First to the Freedom to Speak up Review being conducted by Sir Robert Francis QC (September 2014)
Are there any myths relating to whistleblowing?
Whistleblowers are troublemakers
How do I raise concerns?
Who can a worker complain to if they have concerns about what their healthcare employer is doing or allowing to happen?
How can I raise concerns safely, and be heard?
Are whistleblowers ‘blacklisted’ and what can I do if I suspect this is happening to me?
The Care Quality Commission [CQC] and whistleblowing? Should we make a protected disclosure to them?
What can we expect from the CQC?
I feel like I can’t do this on my own. Who can help me?
Is there any published research on whistleblowing?
Questions about Patients First
Why was Patients First set up?
How is Patients First set up?
What does Patients First do?
What has Patients First achieved?
Is the situation better now?
What are the Patients First recommendations to the Freedom to Speak Up Review?
Does Patients First have any social media pages?
How can I support Patients First?
Blogs, letters and documents from campaigners whistleblowers and supporters
Materials from, campaigners, whistleblowers and supporters
Here’s a sample of our resources, click on the button below them to read more…
- Letter from Dr Lance M Forbat …‘Call for support for who are without recourse due to gagging clauses…’ 28/9/15
- ‘ Fantasy targets’ phsothetruestory Real stories from real people. Added 22/10/15
- @phsothefacts The campaign exchange < click to read document
- Keeping a record, a contemporaneous note < click for details
- ‘Bullying in Healthcare; the sound of silence still prevails’ Roger Kline <click for details
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Workshop materials from the event
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Page last updated: 06.10.2020