Raising Concerns
Support for Staff Raising a Concern in NHS Lothian.
If you are a member of staff and you need to raise a concern about patient safety, working conditions or wrongdoing you should firstly speak to your manager, supervisor or clinical director, either informally or formally. If this is not appropriate you also have the following options:
- Contact a Trade Union Representative
- Contact a Speak Up Advocate by emailing: SpeakUP@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
If you have exhausted these options you should follow the National Whistleblowing process. The new National Whistleblowing Standards for the NHS in Scotland came into force 1 April 2021 and apply to anyone working to deliver NHS services. It’s important that you know what options you have to raise a concern in confidence and in a protected way.
You can access the standards at https://inwo.spso.org.uk/national-whistleblowing-standards
You can access the Ombudsman whistleblowing complaints reports by going to https://inwo.spso.org.uk/our-findings
You can access the policy at https://workforce.nhs.scot/policies/whistleblowing-policy/
A full copy of the staff guide can be found in the Whistleblowing Procedure Guidance
