Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to introduce protections for (a) whistleblowing patients and (b) patient safety advocates.

There are no plans to bring forward legislation to strengthen protections for patients who raise concerns and patient safety advocates.

National Health Service patients should not experience negative consequences if they raise concerns. The NHS Constitution pledges that patient complaints will not adversely impact future treatment. Patients can raise concerns or provide feedback through channels such as the NHS complaints process, Patient Advice and Liaison Service, and the Friends and Family Test, and can also share experiences of care with the Care Quality Commission. Independent advice and support are available for them from the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service.

Through implementation of the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, we will reform the NHS complaints process and strengthen the patient voice by setting clear standards for the quality of responses to complaints and ensure the NHS listens carefully and compassionately, taking forward learnings to ensure high quality care.

Patient safety advocates in the NHS may include Patient Safety Specialists and Freedom to Speak Up Guardians who as workers in the NHS are protected by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA). They may also include Patient Safety Partners (PSPs) who are usually lay people and include patients, carers, or members of the public who work with NHS organisations to improve patient safety by contributing directly to governance, decision making, and safety improvement activity. As lay people, PSPs are not covered by PIDA.