Title: Report to: Freedom to Speak Up - Changes to Arrangements in Raising and Handling Staff Concerns Trust Board Date: 26 September 2016 Security Classification: Public Board Meeting Purpose of Report: This report outlines the NHS arrangements for staff to raise concerns. The paper seeks agreement to assigning a Non-executive Director to the role of the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian and outlines the Trust s approach to raising awareness of the revised process within the Trust. Recommendations: The Trust Board is asked to approve the revised arrangements for staff to raise concerns. Report Sponsors: Comments/views of the Report Sponsor: Mark Vaughan, Executive Director of Workforce Mary Sexton, Executive Director of Nursing, Quality and Governance The Board are asked to approve the recommendations of this report. Report Author: Name: Jackie Stephen Title: Deputy Director of OD and Learning Tel Number: 020 8702 3332 E-mail: jackie.stephen@beh-mht.nhs.uk Report History: The Trust s whistleblowing policy was updated in 2015 and renamed raising concerns. This reflected the emerging role of the Freedom To Speak Up (FTSU) Guardian, required in every Trust in England. Over the past year, Mary Sexton, Director of Nursing, Quality and Governance, has fulfilled the role of the FTSU Guardian. It is clear that current arrangements are neither sufficient nor compliant with national guidance so the Trust needs to appoint a permanent FTSU Guardian and to take the opportunity to remind staff of the sources of support and guidance if they wish to raise a concern. The deadline for appointing a FTSU Guardian is 01 October 2016. Budgetary, Financial/Resource Implications: Equality and Diversity There is potential for funding to be required as there may be resource implications in that the FTSU Guardian will need internal support for handling concerns. There are no direct equality and diversity implications.
Implications: Links to the Trust s Objectives, Board Assurance Framework and/or Corporate Risk Register This paper links to the Trust s key objectives: Provide excellent services for patients Develop our staff Meet our financial and other targets List of Appendices: Appendix 1 Outline of Freedom to Speak Up Guardian role
Report 1. Introduction and Background 1.1 Following the recommendations of Sir Robert Francis QC's Freedom to Speak Up report, the NHS contract 2016/17 specifies that NHS Trusts should have nominated a Freedom To Speak Up (FTSU) Guardian by 01 October 2016. 1.2 This report outlines guidance received from the National FTSU Guardian office on making arrangements for the FTSU Guardian role and proposes changes to our processes for raising concerns, in line with that guidance, whilst continuing to utilise existing sources of support within and beyond the Trust. 2. Guidance from the National FTSU Guardian s Office 2.1 The national FTSU Guardian has been appointed Dr. Henrietta Hughes, who is the Medical Director for NHS England's North Central and East London region. 2.2 The deadline for naming the FTSU Guardian(s) is 01 October 2016. 2.3 There is a session exclusively for FTSU Guardians in London on Thursday 13 October which aims to welcome them into their roles as well as explain how the national guardian and her team will support them. There is also a national conference for guardians scheduled for 08 March 2017. 2.4 The FTSU Guardian needs a strong relationship with the Trust Board and it is recommended that FTSU is a standing Board item, ideally with an opportunity for the FTSU Guardian to speak at every Board meeting. 3. The Trust s position 3.1 The Trust has had a confidential phone line for some time. Over the past year, the Director of Nursing, Quality and Governance has fulfilled the FTSU Guardian role and so all concerns raised by staff, through the phone line and other means, have been managed by her. Whilst having a FTSU Guardian is a national requirement, the CQC also emphasized in their report on our Trust (p53) that the Chief Executive, a FTSU guardian or someone more external would be an appropriate route for staff to follow to raise concerns. 3.2 There have been discussions about our approach to appointing a FTSU Guardian. The options currently are: Non-Executive Director with support from the Trust Secretary External appointment with support from the Trust Secretary Additional internal role with support from the Trust Secretary As the discussions have been inconclusive, we recommend that the Director of Nursing, Quality and Governance fulfils the role of FTSU Guardian until 31 December 2016 by which time the Trust will need to fill the role on a permanent basis. 3.3 We have reviewed our policy on raising concerns to ensure that it complies with the requirements of the national policy. It includes, as advised by the national office, an outline of a range of options for raising concerns including e.g. line manager, Non-executive Director, FTSU Guardian(s), Trade Union representatives. The policy will be submitted to the Trust s policy group for approval once FTSU Guardian arrangements are confirmed. 3.4 We need to provide one point of contact only for the National Guardian s office. We can, however, invest the role in one person, consider potential workload and accessibility of the
person in the guardian role. We propose that the Trust Secretary will provide on-site support. 4. Next steps/for approval 4.1 The Board is asked to confirm that current arrangements will continue until 31 December 2016, with the Director of Nursing, Quality and Governance fulfilling the role of FTSU Guardian until that time. 4.2 The Chair is asked to consider how the Trust will fulfil the FTSU Guardian role beyond 31 December 2016. The role outline, defined by the National FTSU Guardian (Appendix 1) clarifies expectations of the role. Most of the operational work generated by staff raising concerns will be carried out by nominated Executive Directors or other senior managers. The BEH FTSU Guardian will have oversight of all concerns raised and will liaise with Executive Directors to determine the most appropriate route for further investigation of each issue. 4.3 The Board is asked to approve the provision of support through the Trust Secretary from 1 October 2016. 4.4 We will work with the Trust s communications department to raise awareness of the FTSU Guardian role, the routes for raising concerns and the sources of support available for staff. There will be a communications campaign which will include the following: Information at induction for new staff Posters Screensavers Regular articles in Take 2 (weekly newsletter) and Trust Matters (Trust s magazine, issued quarterly) Regular mention at training events and appropriate staff engagement events for example, the Trust s Learning at Work day (in May 2017) as well as during Quality Week (November 2016) 5. Budgetary/Financial Implications Implications 5.1 The budget/financial implications may vary as the FTSU Guardian role may require investment in independent resource to support the role and investigations or fund an additional internal post. 6. Risk Management 6.1 There are no direct risk management implications arising from this report. 7. Equality and Diversity Implications 6.1 There are no direct equality and diversity implications arising from this report.