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The right to speak up……..Guest blog from Dr Kim Holt

February 28, 2015 By Steve Turner

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 ‘The right to speak up……..

Whistleblowing laws were brought in following tragedies such as the Herald of Free enterprise disaster. The legislation was intended to prevent workers raising concerns from being dismissed. This has failed abysmally as Sir Robert Francis stated in the Speaking up review, at best the law (Public Interest Discrimination Act) has limited effectiveness.

At least that gap is now acknowledged. It’s been accepted. So whilst the law remains ineffectual workers remain unsafe. That’s the least of our problems.

Patients First has grown organically from a handful of campaigners to a large and growing network of health professionals who have fought against a system that has been cruel and vindictive in too many cases. The stories of breakdown and loss have been heart breaking to hear. Personally I have listened to maybe thirty or forty similar heart wrenching stories of severe bullying, ignoring of the concerns and failing health and well being. Sir Robert Francis detailed similar in his report published last week.

Patients First contributed by submitting a summary of 70 cases in a thematic review. The patterns used to try and make the individual the focus rather than the issue are remarkable.

Attending a rally last week an eloquent doctor asked how listening to these stories Sir Robert could bear to leave these individuals unresolved. He has. There needs to be some process of reconciliation for the historic cases, as well as most importantly learning from them.

My own journey of whistleblowing took me through all the layers of internal management to the regulators and eventually the media. Until I received support from my MP and the media investigating the ~Peter Connelley story, I didn’t feel that my concerns were being listened to or taken seriously. Colleagues of mine who tried at the same time to speak up, resigned out of frustration, but also felt used by a system that didn’t really care to hear our views. NHS London who investigated my concerns in 2009, treated them as an employment matter rather than a patient safety issue, completely missing the point. The Health Select committee agreed that employment tribunals are not the place for patient safety matters to be heard. Yet this still goes on.

Now its clear that bullying is a major problem and can be linked to raising concerns. The leadership of the NHS will now have to start addressing that by training and more robust support for staff. Unions need to rethink their response to requests for help when staff report bullying, and much earlier intervention generally, and better psychological support is essential. I proposed an early intervention scheme which has been in principle accepted by NHS employers as a good way forward and currently sits with the Department of Health.

This would allow an external scrutiny early one where clinicians or managers are raising concerns about patient safety. The focus would be the patient safety, not the individual.

Whistleblowing externally to regulators and politicians also needs to have a better system in place, and we need to see an end to the post code lottery that currently exists. Some people receive brilliant support from their MP, others have been ignored.
Campaigners have achieved a lot in having these issues heard and now accepted, now we look to government and politicians to ensure that there is fairness for all and no more turning away from difficult issues.

These are my own personal views.

I founded the Patients First network in 2011, contact them at patientspfirst@aol.com
@PatientsFirstUK
Dr Kim Holt’

Click here for the link to the Patients First web site

This article first appeared in the Shaping Our Lives Newsletter Spring 2015 – Issue 23


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Filed Under: Care Right Now, NHS, Organisational Culture, Transparency, whistleblowing

Identifying bullying – why accountability and connections are so important

December 30, 2014 By Steve Turner

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Although I’m not an academic and haven’t studied bullying in depth, I’ve experienced it and I’ve also been in situations where, I now recognise, I took a bullying approach. This has led me to consider the difference between accountability and bullying:

Accountability
The key thing for me is the difference between holding people to account (e.g. by  openly discussing problematic beliefs and behaviours) and bullying.  Accountable actions are driven by the intention / motivation of helping all involved and building an interconnected community based on honesty and trust. (‘Tough love’ if you like).

Bullying
Contrast this to the scenario where bullies criticise people without being specific about what’s being questioned, act secretly and withhold information, blacklist people, create over complex rules which can’t be followed and hide behind bureaucracy and hierarchy.

Sepcific bullying behaviours include undermining, whispering campaigns, behind closed doors conversations etc.

In my experience, around the time of my protected disclosure,  I was involved in meetings and discussions where those who had set up the meeting had not stated the purpose of the meeting in advance (or on one occasion deliberately misled me). In these meetings they had clearly rehearsed their questions. Questions that were designed to belittle and discredit.

Sounds familiar?

In these cases this seems to be motivated by a desire to hold on to power, deny failings, use ‘playground’ tactics and break connections which aren’t in line with the overall agenda (often not made public).

These behaviours are frequently the result of  bullying from higher up the chain, and a culture where leaders are not comfortable with ambiguity.
Bullying in this context is not always recognised as such, and victims are made to feel it may be their fault. This compromises patient safety.

This is a problem which affects all areas of work, not just the UK National Health Service [NHS]. I remain optimistic that, because of the profile this issue now has in the NHS, things are changing. There’s a long way to go yet and many injustices to be rectified.

‘People deal far better with uncertainty and stress when they know what’s going on, even if the information is incomplete and only temporarily correct. Freely circulating information helps create trust, and it turns us into rapid and more effective learners’

Margaret J Wheatley (2007) ‘Finding our Way. Leadership For an Uncertain Time’. Berrett-Kohler Publishers Inc. San Francisco

Click here for the  Care Right Now approach to engagement and leadership

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Author: Steve Turner Updated April 2019.

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Filed Under: Leadership in Health, Organisational Culture, Transparency, whistleblowing

Presentation for Barking Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust 30.10.2019

August 5, 2014 By Steve Turner

Click here for the presentation

M: 07931 919 330    

Twitter: @MedicineGovSte   

YouTube     

LinkedIn profile

Portfolio:
Co-Creator of  www.patientled.education
MD of Care Right Now Community Interest CompanyInformation Governance & Clinical Lead at CareMeds Ltd.
Providing General Data Protection Regulation [GDPR] & Information Governance Leadership Services for Community Pharmacies
Head of Medicines & Prescribing @MedicineGov #MedLearn
Mental Capacity Assessor for tsf Consultants
Associate Lecturer at Plymouth University

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Filed Under: Care Right Now, CIC, Leadership in Health, NHS, Organisational Culture, Transparency, whistleblowing, Workshops

Culture and Leadership in Health – 3 Steps To Safer Care

August 4, 2014 By Steve Turner

Free lunchtime healthcare seminar and facilitated discussion:

Culture and Leadership in Health – 3 steps to safer care

A whistle stop tour of the main influences including the King’s Fund work on developing collective leadership; the review of whistleblowing in the NHS; sign up to safety campaigns and the importance of human factors in healthcare.

Open to all (places limited so please email or text to book)

Date: Wednesday 24th September 2014

Location Health and Wellbeing Innovation Centre, Treliske, Truro, TR1 3FF

Time: Lunch available from 12:15. 12:30 start – finish 13:30 prompt.

Includes a light working lunch.

To book send a blank email to steve@stnov8.co.uk with ‘CRN seminar’ as the header – or text ‘CRN seminar’ to 07968 076 223.

Please indicate how many attendees if more than one, and any dietary requirements.

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Filed Under: Human Factors, Leadership in Health, NHS, Organisational Culture, Transparency, Workshops

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Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care...ambitious transformative 3-year plan from #NHSEngland View video 📺 lnkd.in/ehBmwGnk Submit a video for the #MedLearn series. It's FREE for the #NHS💙& #Patients💚 #TeamSurgical #TeamNHS 💙 #TeamPatient 💚 pic.twitter.com/K66f…

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#Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board | Informed Consent in #Medical procedures Very helpful short vlog from Prof. Suresh Bada Math @sureshbadamath youtu.be/OSsHIVrkXq0… #capacity #consent #MedEd #clinicaleducation #TeamPatient #TeamNHS #NMPPU #SOMNMPCPD #ethics #law #NHS

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