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5 Reasons You Should Employ a Whistleblower – Guest Blog from Tim Martin CEO, SpeakInConfidence

May 6, 2016 By Steve Turner

5 Reasons You Should Employ a Whistleblower

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Over the past few years my role as CEO of SpeakInConfidence has brought me into contact with quite a few whistleblowers;  It’s also brought me into contact with lots of the cases and stories of whistleblowers.

On starting down the path of becoming a whistleblower people will know it is likely to be the end of their career in the organisation they are in.  Sadly it is all too often the end their chosen career in the sector they are in.

Imagine the conversation with your boss when you let them know about your decision:

Boss “How did the references on Jane Bloggs, your preferred candidate for head of Finance turn-out”

“Oh we are not bothering with those – she was fantastic in interviews, just what we need and references will only be pro forma as she left her last job following a successful whistleblowing case”.

So here are 5 reasons should seriously consider being clear that “Yes applications from whistleblowers are welcome”.

  • You have to be pretty committed to be a whistleblower – the journey can be a hard one – and you are probably hiring someone with a high degree of commitment rather than being a passive by stander.
  • Trust: If I am going to trust someone I have never met before, I think I would put whistleblowing high on the list of qualifications.  Given that in the UK whistleblowers don’t gain financially, and risk a huge amount, chances are you are hiring someone who is exceptionally committed to doing the right thing.
  • Don’t you want to know you have people on your team who will have the courage to tell you if they think things are not headed in the right direction? How many mistakes can be avoided if you avoid group think?  Is it really in your interests or those of your organisation to surround yourself with yes people?
  • Imagine the signal to your staff – “We don’t shun people who raise concerns – we hire them”. What does that say to the rest of your staff?  Want to create an open honest culture – what better signal can you give.
  • It’s the right thing to do. Think you are an equal opportunities employer?  Think you are a courageous manager?    Well start acting like one.  By all means fail to select someone because they cannot do the job, but not because they had the courage to speak up elsewhere.

Given the assumptions people sometimes make, unless it’s blindingly obvious from past conduct of your organisation, maybe it’s even time to make it explicitly clear “Whistleblowers welcome here”.

Tim Martin is CEO of SpeakInConfidence, the Anonymous Dialogue Platform.

Send anonymous feedback to your organisation at
www.makemyworkbetter.com

SIClogoMake my work better


A note on our guest blogs:

092JessopWe welcome submissions of guest blogs for all who share our values.

Please send them to info@carerightnow.co.uk


Added: 6/5/2016

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Filed Under: Care Right Now, Human Factors, Leadership in Health, NHS, Organisational Culture, Transparency, whistleblowing

NHS Staff. How to request a copy of your electronic staff record [ESR]

February 14, 2016 By Steve Turner

There is evidence to suggest that informal “blacklisting” is taking place within the NHS following raising concerns.

To obtain further information on whether you consider you have been blacklisted you need to write to the Data Protection Officer of your last NHS employer and request your Electronic Staff Record [ESR] in full via a Subject Access Requested [SAR]. Seek further advice on whether the data within your ESR may be causing you detriment in obtaining future employment within the NHS. There may be a charge for this.

If your last NHS employer has now dissolved (e.g. PCT, SHA) you need to write or email to the Department of Health requesting a Subject Access Request for your ESR. Contact details are:
Reviews and Information Team
Legacy Closedown Team
Information and Group Operations Directorate
Department of Health
Richmond House
79 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2NS

Reviews and Information Team: reviewsandinformationteam@dh.gsi.gov.uk
Any Subject Access Request via the DH is free of charge.
ESR Subject Access Request Letter
Subject Access Code Of Practice

 

Last revised: 14/2/2016

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Filed Under: NHS, Organisational Culture, Transparency, whistleblowing

My Story – Steve Turner, Campaigner for safer healthcare

December 8, 2015 By Steve Turner

My Story – Steve Turner, Campaigner for safer healthcare

092Jessop

 

Steve Turner is a man on a mission – to create a better climate within our National Health Service where people can speak out about unsafe practices without fear of losing their jobs.

He’s a rare breed of health professional whose career spans hands-on nursing, training and innovation as well as campaigning for greater transparency within the NHS.

Steve began his career as a nurse specialising in mental health inspired by, and slightly scared of what happened to his grandfather who had suffered major depression all his life.
His appetite for learning took him through a degree in Social Policy and then into the world of healthcare IT. Steve spent the next decade working on clinical systems for American giant Shared Medical Systems, progressing from project manager to Senior Strategic Services Consultant of the US arm of the company, working with leaders of clinical teams in the UK

Steve then returned to the NHS, successfully revamping the Information and Technology department at Tunbridge Wells prior to a trust merger.

A spell in consultancy for the Kent and Medway Cancer network followed, with Steve leading two multi-organisational projects to identify the most effective information and prescribings systems . These brought clinical teams together to manage a complicated buying system in a much more efficient and cost effective way.

Then came a career crossroads. Steve and his partner decided it was time for a lifestyle change. They had enjoyed many holidays in Cornwall and decided this was the place to be. Plus Steve wanted to return his first love of hands-on nursing. He did a Return to Practice Nursing course and began work as a community mental health nurse in St Austell. Then he moved to an assertive outreach team based in Truro and dealing with some of the most vulnerable people in the community. This involved long term relationships and building trust with patients, something Steve much enjoyed. He also became a Nurse Prescriber, specialising in drugs within the mental health framework.

However in 2008, with proposed cutbacks on the horizon, Steve gently told his patients about the changes and that he might not necessarily be their regular nurse in the future, a step he thought was an important part of good care planning.

Following the standard procedures, he raised his concerns with the Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. His only mistake was to copy his grievance letter to three GPs with whom he’d been working closely.

An attempt was made to discipline him but he accepted that what he had done was outside the policy of the Trust.

However the matter didn’t end there. The cuts had particularly upset two of Steve’s patients who realised that their continuity of care was being threatened and so they filed formal comments about the changes. But once these forms reached the desks of senior management, Steve was accused of bringing the organization into disrepute and suspended from work. Realising that the Trust would be pressing on with the cutbacks, and that his hopes of eventually winning a senior clinical job were scuppered, he resigned.

Steve returned to his training skills, developing medicines management training for staff at the Trust and worked on some major projects involving clinical governance and prescribing for patients with substance issues.

However by 2013 he was becoming increasingly concerned at the plight of the mental health staff he was training. They were becoming tearful in training sessions and were clearly stressed. They told Steve they were afraid to speak out for fear of victimisation as there was no alternative employer within travelling distance.

Steve attempted to discuss his concerns with the Trust but he quickly hit a brick wall. The Care Quality Commission were more sympathetic and arranged for an external person to review his complaint. However he was shocked to be left out of the loop, and merely told there had been ‘ recommendations.’ He heard nothing more.

This process cemented Steve’s ambition to campaign for better transparency in the NHS. He decided to set up Care Right Now as a structured company with an ethical base, delivering change management consultancy within health care, and a new breed of patient led education for clinical staff.

He has also created a movement to bring together people who raise concerns about patient safety and share their experiences, with Turn Up the Volume! on Patient Safety, a new initiative run on a charity basis. With a highly successful inaugural conference in Bristol under its belt, the movement is swiftly gathering momentum.

Does he have any regrets about what he did?

None at all, Steve says he would do it all over again. But he admits it took its toll on his personal life, taking him to the verge of bankruptcy, affecting his home life and linked to episodes of major depression.

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.

 

Updated: 20/03/2018

 

 

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Filed Under: Care Right Now, Human Factors, Organisational Culture, Transparency, Uncategorized, whistleblowing

Turn Up The Volume! Listening for safer care – graffiti walls

November 3, 2015 By Steve Turner

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On 16th October we held a unique learning event, bringing together whistelblowers and health leaders from all quarters (staff, public, patients, carers, relatives)  to speak out for safer care.

We collected (and continue to collect) a large amount or information, in the speaker videos , graffiti walls, question and answer sessions, feedback forms, emails, twitter (under #turnupbristol).


To help keep the conversation going here are the graffiti walls:

CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM

CONCERNS:

Concerns (2)

POSITIVE THINGS:

PostitveThings (2)

PLEDGES:

My pledge is (2)

OUTSTANDING QUESTIONS:

Oustanding Questions (2)

MOST IMPORTANT THING I LEARNED TODAY:

The most important thing I learned today was... (2)

I NEED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT:

(Nothing put on this wall)


CLICK HERE FOR THE EVENT VIDEO SUMMARY (less than 3 minutes)

CLICK HERE FOR THE RESOURCE PAGE


Page updated: 11/3/15

OpenToListen

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Filed Under: Care Homes, Care Right Now, CIC, Elderly care, NHS, Organisational Culture, Transparency, whistleblowing

Why I set up Turn Up The Volume! (3)

October 18, 2015 By Steve Turner

Now the event is complete three things stood out for me:

  1. That this is a  movement not just a  conference

  2. That between us we have the answers if we work together

  3. The need for truth and reconciliation

 

Click here for the resource pages.

 

VoOTxHdo_400x400

 

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Filed Under: Care Right Now, Human Factors, Leadership in Health, Organisational Culture, Transparency, Uncategorized, whistleblowing, Workshops

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My work &✴️#patient-led care ✴️ #accountability #health #healthcare #TeamPatient 💚#TeamNHS 💙 #MedEd #clinicaleducation #medicines #prescribing #AdsFoundation #robbieslaw #oliverscampaign #patientsafety #ethics YouTube playlist (work in progress) 🔽🔽 youtube.com/playlist… pic.twitter.com/YLPQ…

About 2 weeks ago from Steve Turner - 💚💙's Twitter via Twitter Web App

👍#NICEGuideline on #Depression 1page summaries: 🔘1st-line treatments 🔘preventing relapse 🔘further treatment 🔘chronic depression...with #personalitydisorder or #psychotic depression 🔘matched care Link: nice.org.uk/guidance… #MedEd #clinicaleducation #medicines #TeamPatient pic.twitter.com/zJRW…

About 2 weeks ago from Steve Turner - 💚💙's Twitter via Twitter Web App

✴️Learning that changes practice ✴️ @MedicineGov CEO @NusratMedicine Find out more here: medicinegov.org twitter.com/i/status… #TeamPatient #TeamNHS

About 2 weeks ago from Steve Turner - 💚💙's Twitter via Twitter Web App

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…

About 2 weeks ago from Steve Turner - 💚💙's Twitter via Twitter Web App

#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

About 2 weeks ago from Steve Turner - 💚💙's Twitter via Twitter Web App

Follow @MedicineGovSte

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Unit 22, Callywith Gate Industrial Estate,

Launceston Road,

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E: info@carerightnow.co.uk

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