If You Are A Whistleblower

 

What is Whistleblowing?

Whistleblowing is defined in the Public Services Reform (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) Healthcare Whistleblowing Order 2020 as:

"when a person who delivers services or used to deliver services on behalf of a health service body, family health service provider or independent provider (as defined in section 23 of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002) raises a concern that relates to speaking up, in the public interest, about an NHS service, where an act or omission has created, or may create, a risk of harm or wrong doing."

This includes an issue that:

  • has happened, is happening or is likely to happen
  • affects the public, other staff or the NHS provider (the organisation) itself.

People also often talk about ‘raising concerns’ or ‘speaking up’.  These terms can also refer to whistleblowing.  The issue just needs to meet the definition above, whatever language is being used to describe it. 

Risks can relate to a wrongdoing, patient safety or malpractice which the organisation oversees or is responsible or accountable for. In a health setting, these concerns could include, for example:

  • patient-safety issues
  • patient-care issues
  • poor practice
  • unsafe working conditions
  • fraud (theft, corruption, bribery or embezzlement)
  • changing or falsifying information about performance
  • breaking any legal obligation
  • abusing authority
  • deliberately trying to cover up any of the above.

A whistleblowing concern is different to a grievance. 
A grievance is typically a personal complaint about an individual’s own employment situation. 

Healthcare professionals may have a professional duty to report concerns.  Managers and all staff (including students and volunteers) must be aware of this, as it can affect how and when concerns are raised.  However, the processes for handling concerns should be the same for any concern raised.

 

Who can raise a concern?

Anyone who provides services for the NHS can raise a concern, including current (and former) employees, agency workers (and others on short or insecure contracts such as locums and bank staff), contractors (including third-sector service providers), trainees and students, volunteers, non-executive directors, and anyone working alongside NHS staff, such as those in health and social care partnerships.  A person raising a concern has usually witnessed an event, but they may have no direct personal involvement in the issue they are raising. 

If the person does not want to use this procedure, please see the section on confidentiality.

More than one person can raise the same concern, either individually or together.  Anyone receiving a concern must make sure they understand who wants to achieve what, and whether everyone wants to be kept informed and updated on the progress of any investigation.

It is important for everyone involved in this procedure to be aware that some people may feel at greater risk than others as a result of raising a concern.  For example:

  • employees whose employment may be less secure, such as agency staff or those who need a visa to work in the UK
  • students and others who are due to be assessed on their work
  • people from any of the recognised equalities groups.

Some people may consider themselves to be more likely to be treated unfairly as a result of raising a concern, particularly if they are in more than one of the above groups.  It is particularly important to make sure people are aware of the support available through this procedure, and that any concerns they raise are treated seriously.

If the person is raising a concern about a service that is not their employer, for example, a district nurse working in a GP service, a locum pharmacist working for an agency, or a care assistant working within an HSCP service, they must be able to raise concerns either direct with their employer or within the service itself, and they must have full access to the National Whistleblowing Standards.

 

How to raise a concern?

These Standards are designed to work with, not repeat or replicate, NHS processes and procedures that staff use every day to report what is happening in local areas.  These processes and procedures are called ‘business as usual’ in the Standards.  

People may report or mention issues through business as usual processes which could meet the whistleblowing definition. To avoid duplication and confusion, the procedure set out in these Standards should normally only be used if:

  • no other procedure or processes are being used
  • an existing procedure or process has been used but has not resulted in the outcome the person raising the concern expected, or
  • the person asks for the whistleblowing procedure to be used.

Read more about moving from business as usual to this procedure for raising concerns under Initial actions.

People should raise concerns within six months of first becoming aware of the issue the concern relates to. 

For more information on this, see the information about the two-stage procedure.

 

To see the full Whistleblowing Policy and the full procedure please follow the link below:

https://workforce.nhs.scot/policies/whistleblowing-policy/

How to raise a whistleblowing concern and access the Speak Up Ambassadors in NHS Grampian - Whistleblowing (nhsgrampian.org) 

(Please note that intranet links can only be accessed on NHS Grampian computers, if you need further information please speak to your manager).

Published: 25/03/2025 15:49