Ensuring that staff feel free to speak up about any concern or ideas on how we can improve at work is really important.

It helps us to keep improving our services for all patients and the working environment for our staff. 

Senior leaders and the entire Board at our Trust are committed to an open and honest culture and want to encourage staff to raise any concerns or ideas for improvement they might have at the earliest possible time.

Staff need to be able to speak up on all the following occasions:

  • When things go wrong, we need to make sure that lessons are learnt and things are improved.

  • If we think something might go wrong, it’s important that we all feel able to speak up so that potential harm is prevented.

  • Even when things are good, but could be even better, we should feel able to say something and should expect that our suggestion is listened to and used as an opportunity for improvement.

Freedom To Speak Up training is mandated for all staff and this can be found via ESR.

For staff who have access to the Trust's intranet, more information can be found there, or email ftsu@mpft.nhs.uk

For staff who are unable to access this intranet, whether due to long term sickness or extended leave, or those who no longer work for the organisation but would like to raise a concern please e-mail ftsu@mpft.nhs.uk for support.

You can speak up about anything that gets in the way of patient care, or that affects your working life.

That could be something which doesn’t feel right, for example a way of working or a process which isn’t being followed, or behaviours of others which you feel is having an impact on the well-being of you, the people you work with, or patients.

Speaking up is about all of these things.

If staff raise a concern, they will not be at risk of losing their job or suffering any form of reprisal as a result. We will not tolerate the harassment or victimisation of anyone raising a concern. We will not tolerate any attempt to bully staff into not raising a concern.

Any such behaviour is a breach of our values as an organisation and, if upheld following an investigation, could result in disciplinary action. 

Providing staff are acting honestly, it does not matter if they are mistaken or if there an innocent explanation for their concerns.

Openly

This is when the person’s identity is known and they are happy for anyone else involved to know too. This will make it easier for others to ask them for any further information they need to help resolve the issue. It will also help the organisation take action to support them further if they need to. They might not want to speak up openly though, and they do not have to.

Confidentially

Speaking up confidentially is when the person reveals their identity to a Freedom To Speak Up Guardian on the condition that it will not be shared without their consent. It is important to understand that confidentiality can be preserved except where it is required to be disclosed by law. In some cases, for example, where the person has already shared information or where the facts of the case enable others to identify them, maintaining confidentiality may be impossible. However, this should be discussed with them. There are a range of means which can be considered to ensure that their identity is protected, even when further action is needed, such as an investigation into the matter they have raised.

Anonymously

When someone speaks up anonymously, they do not want to share their identity with anyone. This can make it difficult for others to ask for further information about the matter and may make taking action to resolve the issue more complex. It also means that they might not be able to access any extra support they might need. However, any matter spoken up about anonymously will be considered and treated in the same way as any other matter spoken up about, as far as possible

Anyone who works (or has worked) in the NHS, or for an independent organisation that provides NHS services can raise concerns. This includes agency workers, temporary workers, students and volunteers.

In many circumstances the easiest way to get a concern resolved or idea heard will be to raise it formally or informally with the line manager (or for example, supervisor, lead clinician, tutor).

But where it is not appropriate to do this, the concern or idea can be raised using any of the options set out below.

If raising it with the line manager does not resolve matters or staff do not feel able to raise it with them, they can contact one of the Freedom to Speak Up Guardians by emailing ftsu@mpft.nhs.uk to find a time to meet.

The Freedom To Speak Up Guardian is an important role identified in the Francis Freedom to Speak Up review (2015) to act as an independent and impartial source of advice to staff at any stage of raising a concern, with access to anyone in the organisation including the chief executive, or if necessary, outside the organisation.

Staff can also raise their concern with the independent Non-Executive director, currently Jane Gaddum, who can be contacted via email jane.gaddum@mpft.nhs.uk if they feel they still have concerns or they feel the matter is so serious that they cannot disclose it with any of the above. The independent non-executive director supports the work of the Freedom To Speak Up Guardians and will focus particularly on concerns of a serious nature.

If for any reason staff do not feel comfortable raising their concern internally, they can raise their concerns with external bodies:

  • National Freedom to Speak Up Guardians Office for advice and guidance
  • NHS Improvement
  • Care Quality Commission for quality and safety concerns
  • NHS England for concerns about; primary medical services, primary dental services, primary ophthalmic services or local pharmaceutical services.
  • Health Education England for education and training in the NHS
  • NHS Protect for concerns about fraud and corruption.
  • Trade Unions and Professional Regulators

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