Freedom to Speak Up

Whether you call it freedom to speak up, whistleblowing or raising concerns it is about NHS staff speaking up about anything that gets in the way of providing high quality care for patients or adversely impacts staff experience.

This might include patient safety concerns, fraud, poor practice, bullying or harassment – and can also include ideas for improvement.  All NHS Trusts must have one of more designated Freedom to Speak Up Guardian and at CPFT they are Annie Ng and Harriet Currie.

Their purpose is to protect patient safety and quality of care, improve the experience of staff and promote learning and improvement.  They do this by helping to ensure that staff are supported in speaking up, barriers to speaking up are addressed, a positive culture of speaking up is fostered and issues raised are used as opportunities for learning and improvement. Freedom to Speak Up Guardians operate independently, impartially and objectively, while working in partnership with individuals and groups across the Trust, including its senior leadership.

The Trust is committed to ensuring that staff can openly raise concerns but can do so confidentially and anonymously if they wish.