• A new report by the National Guardian’s Office reveals that the perception of the speaking up culture in health is improving.
• There are now over 500 guardians supporting workers to speak up in a variety of healthcare settings, including at least one in every trust in England.
• However, 44% of guardians indicated that they have no ring-fenced time to carry out their role – an increase on the previous year.
  
  

Responding to the National Guardian’s Office report which revealed that the perception of the speaking up culture in health is improving, the director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, Miriam Deakin said:

“We welcome the fact that there is an increasing perception amongst guardians that their position is making a difference. It’s good to see that there is a growing awareness of the guardian role within trusts.

“This reflects other findings from the National Guardian’s Office which similarly show that the majority of trusts are seeing improvements in their speaking up cultures and making progress to tackle bullying and harassment.

“Trust leaders are committed to improving the support provided to staff to raise such concerns.

We know that improvements are made to staff experience and patient care when staff feel empowered to speak up.

Miriam Deakin    Co-Director of Development and Engagement

“But we know that there is clearly more to do to make further progress. We know that improvements are made to staff experience and patient care when staff feel empowered to speak up.

“There are wider issues that need to be addressed in order to make the NHS a great place to work and able to deliver high-quality care consistently. Trusts are facing significant recruitment and retention challenges, and wider issues such as increased demand and cuts to training budgets also affect staff experience.

“That’s why we are looking forward to the publication of the people plan and will be taking an active role in supporting trusts in its implementation. We must look after our staff to look after our patients.”