Whistleblower Policy and Investigations

Reference: 24-25469

Date response sent: 31/01/2025

Details of enquiry

1. Please answer yes or no. In January 2025 was your Trust conducting any… internal review / investigation / report being compiled… into a consultant that has had concerns raised about him or her (ie. a whistleblower has come forward and named the person)?
2. Please answer yes or no. In January 2025 was your Trust conducting any… internal review / investigation / report being compiled… into a junior doctor that has had concerns raised about him or her (ie. a whistleblower has come forward and named the person)?
3. Please answer yes or no. In January 2025 was your Trust conducting any… internal review / investigation / report being compiled… into a nurse that has had concerns raised about him or her (ie. a whistleblower has come forward and named the person)?
4. Please answer yes or no. Has your Trust conducted / started or concluded an internal or external review / investigation of a medical member of staff since January 1^st 2023 following a whistleblower or patient raising concerns?
5. Please answer yes or no. If you answered yes to question 4 – did the member of medical staff being investigated continue to have contact with patients whilst the… review/investigation/report being written… was ongoing?
6. If you answered yes to Question 4, is the member(s) of staff that was investigated / reviewed still working at your Trust following the review conclusions?
7. If you answered yes to Question 4, for those reports that have concluded, was the member of staff that was investigated / reviewed found to have fallen short of the standards your Trust would expect from their medical staff?
8. If you answered yes to Question 4, how many members of medical staff were reviewed/ investigated following an internal whistleblower raising concerns?
9. If you answered yes to Question 4, was the whistleblower also investigated?
10. Please answer yes or no. Do you have any experience with a malicious whistleblower? If yes, please share further details if able. (An example of a malicious whistleblower is someone that reports a colleague purely because they want to cause that person repetitional harm, not because they have any actual knowledge of them falling below expected standards for the trust).
11. Please share any review conclusions / reports / write ups where possible.
12. Please share any further details of your whistleblower policy here. How do you manage whistleblowers when they raise concerns?

Response sent

1. Please answer yes or no. In January 2025 was your Trust conducting any… internal review / investigation / report being compiled… into a consultant that has had concerns raised about him or her (ie. a whistleblower has come forward and named the person)?

No

1. Please answer yes or no. In January 2025 was your Trust conducting any… internal review / investigation / report being compiled… into a junior doctor that has had concerns raised about him or her (ie. a whistleblower has come forward and named the person)?

No

1. Please answer yes or no. In January 2025 was your Trust conducting any… internal review / investigation / report being compiled… into a nurse that has had concerns raised about him or her (ie. a whistleblower has come forward and named the person)?

No

1. Please answer yes or no. Has your Trust conducted / started or concluded an internal or external review / investigation of a medical member of staff since January 1^st 2023 following a whistleblower or patient raising concerns?

No

1. Please answer yes or no. If you answered yes to question 4 – did the member of medical staff being investigated continue to have contact with patients whilst the… review/investigation/report being written… was ongoing?

Not applicable – see above response to Q4

1. If you answered yes to Question 4, is the member(s) of staff that was investigated / reviewed still working at your Trust following the review conclusions?

Not applicable – see above response to Q4

1. If you answered yes to Question 4, for those reports that have concluded, was the member of staff that was investigated / reviewed found to have fallen short of the standards your Trust would expect from their medical staff?

Not applicable – see above response to Q4

1. If you answered yes to Question 4, how many members of medical staff were reviewed/ investigated following an internal whistleblower raising concerns?

Not applicable – see above response to Q4

1. If you answered yes to Question 4, was the whistleblower also investigated?

Not applicable – see above response

1. Please answer yes or no. Do you have any experience with a malicious whistleblower? If yes, please share further details if able. (An example of a malicious whistleblower is someone that reports a colleague purely because they want to cause that person repetitional harm, not because they have any actual knowledge of them falling below expected standards for the trust).

The Trust does not hold this data. The ability to decide whether a whistleblower was acting maliciously would need to be decided by a Court or relevant body, and we do not hold records of any such instances.

Furthermore, please note that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) applies to recorded information that exists at the time of the request. It does not require an authority to speculate nor provide opinions, which may be considered to be the purpose of this question.

1. Please share any review conclusions / reports / write ups where possible.

Not applicable – see above response to Q11

12. Please share any further details of your whistleblower policy here. How do you manage whistleblowers when they raise concerns?

Please see the Trust’s Freedom to Speak Up procedure, which is publicly available on our website at: freedom-to-speak-up-raising-concerns-and-whistleblowing-procedure/Tavistock-and-Portman

We can also advise that our staff intranet (internal viewing for staff only) contains some clear signposting advising staff what and how to step forward and raise concerns. We have pasted below some screenshots of this content, for your information.

[Images attached]