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Information Governance: Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

NHS Grampian does not collect whistleblowing data according to the parameters suggested by the 2011 Scottish government guidance. They do not record the nature or number of concerns raised, whether concerns are investigated or resolved, factors leading to incidents, or whether feedback is provided to staff. NHS Grampian is also not collecting data on staff treatment after raising concerns, claims under whistleblowing law, or publishing any whistleblowing governance data. However, NHS Grampian is rolling out a staff survey tool called iMatter between 2017-2018 which may include questions related to understanding staff experiences with whistleblowing.

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23 views4 pages

Information Governance: Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

NHS Grampian does not collect whistleblowing data according to the parameters suggested by the 2011 Scottish government guidance. They do not record the nature or number of concerns raised, whether concerns are investigated or resolved, factors leading to incidents, or whether feedback is provided to staff. NHS Grampian is also not collecting data on staff treatment after raising concerns, claims under whistleblowing law, or publishing any whistleblowing governance data. However, NHS Grampian is rolling out a staff survey tool called iMatter between 2017-2018 which may include questions related to understanding staff experiences with whistleblowing.

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© © All Rights Reserved
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Information Governance

Medical Directorate
NHS Grampian
Rosehill House
Foresterhill Site
Cornhill Road
Aberdeen
AB25 2ZG
BY EMAIL
Minh Alexander
[email protected]

Date
Our Ref
Enquiries to
Extension
Direct Line
Email

12 August 2015
FOI/2015/303
Information Governance Team
51319
01224 551319
[email protected]

Dear Mr Alexander,
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
I refer to your e-mail dated 6 July 2015, requesting:
Does NHS Grampian collect whistleblowing data according to the parameters
suggested by the government in its 2011 guidance? [1] This guidance encourages
collection of and learning from this data:
1) 'the nature and number of concerns raised'
2) whether concerns are investigated and resolved
3) factors leading to whistleblowing incidents and whether issues should have been
detected and resolved at an earlier stage
4) whether constructive and timely feedback is given to staff
5) evidence that staff who raise concerns have not been fairly treated as a result of
raising a concern
6) exit interviews that are relevant to whistleblowing
7) claims under PIDA and other claims
8) survey of staff experience with regards to whistleblowing, with these questions:
o Have you been troubled about some malpractice in the past three years? If so,
did you raise the concern, and with what result?
o How aware are you of the whistleblowing arrangements?
o How likely are you to raise a whistleblowing concern with your manager and with
senior managers?
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o How confident are you that there will be no negative repercussions for raising the
matter with your manager and those above?
o How confident are you that the matter will be addressed properly by your
manager and those above?
o How likely is it that your colleagues would raise a whistleblowing concern with
their manager or with senior managers?'
Please could NHS Grampian provide all data collected on its whistleblowing
governance for years 2013 and 2014, including any from the above fields, and any
other data collected in addition the above.
If NHS Grampian collects data on whether staff have not been fairly treated as a
result of raising a concern, could it advise on the parameters used (for example,
does it track whether staff are disciplined, suspended, dismissed or made
redundant after raising a concern). Please provide the full data regarding any
specific parameters that NHS Grampian tracks.
I would also be grateful if you could advise whether any data on NHS Grampian's
whistleblowing governance is published, and if so where can it be found.
[1] Implementing & Reviewing Whistleblowing Arrangements in NHS Scotland,
Partnership Information Network, Scottish Government May 2011

I can now respond as follows:


Please note in relation to all of the questions below NHS Grampian has a Voicing Concern
policy; the concerns raised under this policy are not routinely recorded as the policy
promotes informal resolution.
Does NHS Grampian collect whistleblowing data according to the parameters
suggested by the government in its 2011 guidance? [1] This guidance encourages
collection of and learning from this data:
1) 'the nature and number of concerns raised'
NHS Grampian can advise that this information is not recorded; s.17 of the Act refers
Information not held.
2) whether concerns are investigated and resolved
NHS Grampian can advise that this information is not recorded; s.17 of the Act refers
Information not held.
3) factors leading to whistleblowing incidents and whether issues should have been
detected and resolved at an earlier stage
NHS Grampian can advise that information relating to ongoing management practice is not
recorded; s.17 of the Act refers Information not held.
4) whether constructive and timely feedback is given to staff
NHS Grampian can advise that information relating to ongoing management practice is not
recorded; s.17 of the Act refers Information not held.
5) evidence that staff who raise concerns have not been fairly treated as a result of
raising a concern
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NHS Grampian can advise that information relating to ongoing management practice is not
recorded and evidence is not gathered; s.17 of the Act refers Information not held.
6) exit interviews that are relevant to whistleblowing
We can advise that exit interviews occur to discuss and explore reasons for leaving, if
whistle blowing was a factor this would be discussed but again not recorded; s.17 of the
Act refers Information not held.
7) claims under PIDA and other claims
NHS Grampian can advsie that there have been no claims under PIDA or other claims.
8) survey of staff experience with regards to whistleblowing, with these questions:
o Have you been troubled about some malpractice in the past three years? If so, did
you raise the concern, and with what result?
o How aware are you of the whistleblowing arrangements?
o How likely are you to raise a whistleblowing concern with your manager and with
senior managers?
o How confident are you that there will be no negative repercussions for raising the
matter with your manager and those above?
o How confident are you that the matter will be addressed properly by your
manager and those above?
o How likely is it that your colleagues would raise a whistleblowing concern with
their manager or with senior managers?'
NHS Grampian is rolling out iMatter between now and the end of 2017, so all staff will
have involvement with this tool as a member of a team and for some as a manager.
iMatter is a continuous improvement tool created with NHS Scotland staff, managers and
staff side representatives to understand the experience of NHS staff at work. Data on
these questions will be collated as part of the iMatter roll out.
Please could NHS Grampian provide all data collected on its whistleblowing
governance for years 2013 and 2014, including any from the above fields, and any
other data collected in addition the above.
NHS Grampian can advise that this data is not collected; s.17 of the Act refers
Information not held.
If NHS Grampian collects data on whether staff have not been fairly treated as a
result of raising a concern, could it advise on the parameters used (for example,
does it track whether staff are disciplined, suspended, dismissed or made
redundant after raising a concern). Please provide the full data regarding any
specific parameters that NHS Grampian tracks.
NHS Grampian can advise that this data is not collected; s.17 of the Act refers
Information not held.
I would also be grateful if you could advise whether any data on NHS Grampian's
whistleblowing governance is published, and if so where can it be found.
NHS Grampian can advise that data on whistleblowing governance is not published. The
organisation has a Dignity at Work policy, which will be the subject of review and
consultation in the near future, as part of our standard process for the review of policies.

Under section 20 (1) of the Act, if you are dissatisfied with the way NHS Grampian has
dealt with your request, you have a right to request a review of our actions and decisions
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in relation to your request, and you have a right to appeal to the Scottish Information
Commissioner.
A request for review must be made within 40 working days and should, in the first
instance, be in writing to: Directorate of Corporate Communications, Ashgrove House,
Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZN or by email to [email protected]
Requests for appeal should be made in writing to: Scottish Information Commissioner,
Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS
Telephone: 01334 464610, Fax: 01334 464611
E-mail: [email protected]
Yours sincerely

Chris Morrice
Information Governance Manager
NHS Grampian

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