Brighton and Hove doctors and nurses to be given clearer whistleblowing guidelines

Doctors and nurses in Brighton and Hove are to be given clearer information about how to blow the whistle if they are worried about matters like patient safety.

The new guidelines have been produced partly as a result of the Francis inquiry into the scandal in Mid Staffordshire.

Staff at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust can choose to turn to a range of people from their manager to an external whistleblowing helpline.

The trust, which runs the Royal Sussex County Hospital, employs a patient ombudsman as well.

One of the key aims is to give staff the confidence to speak out if they have concerns.

Human resources director Graham White said that executives were keen to ensure that concerns were fed back to managers and that, when appropriate, lessons were learnt and changes made.

He was anxious that staff were able to flag up problems without worrying that they might lose their jobs.

And he said that it was important when problems were identified that they were seen to be dealt with.

Richard Hawkins, one of the trust’s non-executive directors, asked about patients being able to blow the whistle.

Mr White said that the patient ombudsman provided opportunities for staff and patients to raise matters and that this would continue.

Trust chairman Julian Lee said that it was important that staff and patients with concerns could speak truth to power and that they could find out easily how to do this.