Pennine Acute Trust signs up to Speaking Up Charter

Staff at The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust will be encouraged and able to speak up with more confidence regarding any safety concerns and issues at work following the signing up to a new national charter.

The Trust, which runs Rochdale Infirmary, The Royal Oldham Hospital, Fairfield General Hospital in Bury and North Manchester General Hospital, has signed up to the ‘Speaking Up Charter’, which has been launched by the NHS Employers organisation.

NHS Employers, set up in 2004, is a not-for-profit organisation that is part of the NHS Confederation. It represents and is the voice of employers in the NHS, supporting them to put patients first.

The Charter is the first of its kind to outline a commitment by NHS Employers, regulators, health unions, professional associations and bodies to work together to support staff when they raise a concern.

To date, twenty-eight national professional and trade union organisations have signed the new charter, recognising their separate but linked responsibilities for key aspects of the provision and regulation of care, or for supporting members to provide high quality, safe care.

Developed following a whistle-blowing summit in May 2012, the Charter has six commitments which organisations sign up to:

• To work in partnership with other organisations to develop a positive culture by promoting openness, transparency, fairness, reporting and learning as an important and integral part of providing safer patient and public care.
• To adhere to the principles of this charter to foster a culture of openness which supports staff to raise concerns.
• To share expertise to create effective ways of breaking down barriers to reporting incidents and concerns early on.
• To exchange information, where it is appropriate and lawful to do so, in the interest of patient and public safety.
• To signpost individuals to support and guidance to ensure that they are fully aware of and understand their protected rights under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA).
• To seek to highlight issues where current law or regulations may restrict those who wish to raise a concern about a human error.

Trust Chairman John Jesky signed up to the Charter on behalf of the Trust Board at its October Board meeting. Also signing the Charter was Joanne Heyworth, Staff Side’s Deputy Secretary, Roger Pickering, Director of Human Resources and John Saxby, Chief Executive.

John Jesky, Chairman of The Pennine Acute Trust, said: “The Charter outlines a commitment for us as an organisation to work more effectively to create a just culture which is open, honest and transparent. A just culture ensures individuals are fully supported to report concerns and safety issues. Any employee which does this should be treated fairly and with empathy and consideration.

“Safety should be at the heart of all patient care and this can lead to increased reporting, learning and sharing of incidents and best practice. We are committed to working towards ensuring that all individuals are treated in a service which is open to feedback, and encourages as well as supports its staff to raise concerns. Staff should feel free to raise concerns and issues at every level of the organisation.”

Joanne Heyworth, Staff Side’s Deputy Secretary for The Pennine Acute Trust, said: “The Speaking Up Charter has evolved from all the health care Unions having concerns about staff not being listened to when they aired concerns. Working together in partnership with NHS Employers, the Charter was created to adopt a concept of openness for Staff to be heard, taken notice of and not vindicated when they raise concerns in regard to issues that Staff see, hear or experience.

“The Charter will support Staff and bridge the barriers between themselves and management, thus creating a more honest and open environment in which effective communication can take place without fear of reprisal.

“Staff must be prepared to challenge unsafe practices and feel confident to be able to speak out knowing that they are supported by management in doing so.

“It will be interesting to reflect upon the adoption of this charter in a year’s time to see the positive and productive effect that it has had on the Trust and the Staff Moral.

“It is fabulous that the Trust has committed to this charter and I hope this will be the start of the journey to a more creative and open future for staff and the Trust.”