NHS whistleblowers will be protected from discrimination when applying for another job in the health service under draft regulations introduced by the Government on Monday.
Part of efforts to make the NHS “the safest healthcare system in the world”, the proposed powers mean NHS employers will not lawfully be able to discriminate against job applicants who have previously blown the whistle on potential risks to patient safety.
Any applicants who face discrimination will get legal protection and NHS employers will face tough penalties if applicants’ complaints are upheld.
The move is part of the Government’s wider drive to develop a culture of openness and transparency within the NHS.
Caroline Dinenage, Minister of State for Care, said: “These important measures should ensure staff can raise concerns knowing they are protected by the law and that their career in the NHS will not be damaged as a result of wanting to do the right thing.
“For too long we have failed to protect those who are brave enough to speak out when others won’t.
“We want to make the NHS the safest healthcare system in the world so we must build a culture of openness and transparency among our staff.”
The changes were a key recommendation in Sir Robert Francis’ Freedom to Speak Up Review, which found a number of people struggled to find employment in the NHS after making protected disclosures about patient safety.
The measures sit alongside existing initiatives, which includes a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian role within every NHS organisation as well as nationwide pilots to support NHS whistleblowers and help them back into work.
Subject to parliamentary approval on March 19, the regulations will give applicants a right to complain to an employment tribunal if they have been discriminated against because it appears they have previously spoken out.
It will also enable compensation to be awarded if a complaint is upheld.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel