Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that whistleblowers willing to give evidence on allegations of wrongdoing at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust will not be victimised or otherwise suffer detriment from the Trust for so giving evidence.

The Secretary of State has been very clear that people working in the National Health Service should be supported to raise concerns. Trusts should have whistleblowing policies in place that are compliant with the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.

It is in the interests of patients and staff that trusts foster a culture where NHS workers feel confident that when concerns in the public interest are raised they will be heard. To that end, on 24 June, my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced that Sir Robert Francis QC, will lead an independent review of whistleblowing policies and practices in the NHS, which will consider what more can be done to further protect NHS workers who speak out in the public interest.

The Secretary of State wrote on 5 March 2014 to all Chairs in NHS trusts and foundation trusts in England to reiterate the vital importance of fostering a culture of openness and transparency in the NHS in which concerns about care can be raised, investigated and acted upon.

We have introduced a contractual right to raise concerns and issued guidance for NHS organisations. In March 2012, we strengthened the NHS Constitution to include an expectation that staff will raise their concerns early and a pledge that their employer will act upon those concerns.

We are also introducing a Duty of Candour, so that when things go wrong, organisations have a statutory duty to admit mistakes and tell patients what has happened.