Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to record the number NHS staff who have reported detrimental treatment as a result of whistle-blowing.

NHS England does not record this information centrally, in the format requested. The majority of complaints and concerns raised would be made to the employing National Health Service trust or NHS employer, and not to NHS England directly. I feel strongly that the NHS must support and welcome all staff to speak up. It is the duty of a health practitioner to speak up whenever they are concerned.

In response to a recommendation of the Sir Robert Francis’ Freedom to Speak Up Review in 2015, we established an independent National Guardian to help drive positive cultural change across the NHS, so that speaking up becomes business as usual. The National Guardian also oversees a network of local Freedom to Speak Up Guardians across all trusts in England. The National Guardian has also issued guidance and training on how to speak up. NHS England has developed an updated model of the Freedom to Speak Up policy, which they expect all NHS organisations to adopt by 31 January 2024.