Freedom to Speak Up
Freedom to Speak Up
We welcome speaking up as it is vital that staff are encouraged to speak up and raise their concerns to keep patients and staff safe and to support the working environment for our staff.
Our vision
We are committed to promoting an open and transparent culture across the organisation where everyone feels valued, respected, and able to speak up without fear of repercussion.
Our Board and senior leadership team are committed to:
- Encouraging colleagues to speak up about issues they are concerned about and promoting a culture of open communication
- Ensuring those who speak up are thanked, their concerns are taken seriously, and they receive feedback on actions taken
- Utilise the speaking up information to identify areas for improvement and make changes that will be beneficial to patients, families, and colleagues
- Focusing on patient safety and quality to ensure patients and their families receive the best possible care and that safety issues are addressed promptly
Who can speak up?
Anyone who works in NHS healthcare can speak up including healthcare professionals, non-clinical workers, receptionists, directors, managers, contractors, volunteers, students, trainees, junior doctors, locum, bank and agency workers and former workers.
Freedom to Speak Up Guardian
Every NHS organisation has a FTSU Guardian, they are an appointed individual who works independently and has a key role in helping to enable a positive speaking up culture in their organisation. They can provide confidential advice and support in relation to concerns they have about anything that gets in the ways of doing a great job and providing safe care which could include concerns around patient safety, working conditions, discriminatory behaviour. The FTSU Guardian can be contacted via email: wcft.freedomtospeakup@nhs.net