Concern over decline in NHS staff willing to speak out about safety concerns

By Ella Pickover, Reporter24th July 2024News EnglandCare Standards, News England, NHS, Whistleblowing, Workforce

Concerns have been raised about the dwindling proportion of NHS staff who would be willing to raise safety concerns.

The National Guardian’s Office said there has been a decline in NHS workers who feel secure speaking out about unsafe clinical practice.

Dr Jayne Chidgey-Clark, National Guardian for the NHS, said the dip has “implications for patient safety”.

It comes as Professor Lord Darzi, who is leading an investigation into the NHS for the Department of Health and Social Care, highlighted the consequences of what happens when safety concerns are “ignored”, including the case of serial killer nurse Lucy Letby and the infected blood scandal.

The National Guardian’s Office analysed data from the latest NHS Staff Survey and found that the proportion of employees who agreed with the statement “I would feel secure raising concerns about unsafe clinical practice” is at a five-year low and now stands at 71%.

Almost 60,000 workers either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement.

Confidence to raise clinical safety concerns has declined by around six percentage points among medical and dental workers since 2021, according to the National Guardian’s new report, falling from 75% in 2021 to 69% in 2023.

Dr Chidgey-Clark (pictured) said: “This deterioration in confidence has implications for patient safety.

“These figures must focus the minds of those who lead healthcare organisations. If your people feel they cannot speak up about matters affecting patient care, or if they do, nothing will happen, how can you be assured that you are delivering your best for patients?

“The NHS may be broken, but by listening to our people we can begin to fix it.”

Meanwhile, in a foreword to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s annual report, Lord Darzi wrote: “Key to the task of reducing the toll of harm is involving patients and their families.

“Their concerns often provide early warning of future disasters which might have been avoided had they been listened to and acted on.

“In the last year we have seen the consequences when these concerns are ignored: in the Lucy Letby case, where a neo-natal nurse was jailed for the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of six others, and in the infected blood scandal, in which an estimated 30,000 people were given contaminated blood transfusions over a 20-year period.”

He added: “In the past, patients who suffered harm during their care were regarded as the ‘cost of doing business’. That view is no longer acceptable.

“Safety is not like quality, something we strive for – it is something we cannot do without.”

Patient Safety Commissioner Henrietta Hughes said: “Without a just and learning culture and transparency, we will continue to see harm happening again and again.”