Whistleblowing and Professional Conduct
Whistleblowers have been key to fundamental changes in NHS and other organisations.
Public attention to issues raised by whistleblowers has increased in recent years due to media interest and coverage, and how organisations deal with such incidents has had to evolve as a result.
Verita offer comprehensive whistleblowing services to help you prevent and manage whistleblowing in your organisation.
What is whistleblowing?
A whistleblower is defined as a person who raises a concern about safety, malpractice or wrongdoing at work, usually directed at fellow colleagues. Staff who whistleblow are protected by law and should feel safe to raise their concerns, after all, whistleblowing can help to protect the public, employees and the organisation itself from risks.
For example, Verita worked in one organisation to review a collective grievance about an executive management team. The senior staff who raised the grievance said they lacked confidence in the executive team and were disconnected from management decisions.
Verita were commissioned to examine the issues and provide practical ways of resolving the conflict.
We found evidence that substantiated the grievance, and concluded that the situation had come about as a result of complex restructures; a lack of consistent leadership and failure by the executive team to deliver on commitments.
Our recommendations included bolstering leadership, involving the senior staff and the wider workforce in the creation of a strategy and having meaningful discussions. The organisation accepted our recommendations and asked us to mediate meetings. Within six months the collective grievance was withdrawn.
These issues are prevalent across many different sectors.
By working with staff and management teams we can help develop a way forward to improve working practices and ultimately develop an open and transparent culture that helps to improve work conditions and corporate governance.
To find out more about how Verita’s whistleblowing services, please contact Verita founder Ed Marsden on 020 7494 5670 or via email at [email protected].
If you would love to read more about the work that Verita has done in relation to Whistleblowing and Professional Conduct, please click on the additional articles below:
NHS investigations – themes and lessons – Jimmy Savile 1
Providing a ‘safe space’ in healthcare safety investigations
