From:

Subject:
Date:
To:
Cc:

Minh Alexander MinhAlexander@aol.com

Whistleblowing governance by Guys and St. Thomas NHS Foundation Trust FOIA Ref. No. 53354
19 February 2016 at 13:00
foi@gstt.nhs.uk
Michael.Coleman@gstt.nhs.uk, Sills Eileen eileen.sills@gstt.nhs.uk

To Ann MacIntyre, Director of Workforce and Organisa8onal Development, Guys and St. Thomas NHS Founda8on Trust, 19 February
2016

Dear Ms MacIntyre,

Whistleblowing governance by Guys and St. Thomas NHS Founda>on Trust

Thank you for the trusts further response, aLached, to my enquiry (copied below) on this maLer.

1) The trust has kindly addressed some of my ques8ons about its Showing we care by speaking up ini8a8ve, but not all. I asked
for informa8on about proposed evalua8on methodology or evalua8on data regarding this ini8a8ve, including interim reports.
These aspects are not addressed by the trusts latest response. Please advise if the trust holds this data, and if so, please
provide it as requested.

2) The trusts response has once more failed to answer my ques8ons about specic monitoring data on its handling of
whistleblowing cases. The following ques8ons remain unanswered:

I ask again that the trust discloses data for each of calendar years 2013 and 2014, as follows:

1) Number and nature of concerns raised by sta

2) Number of events which might raise concerns that sta have raised concerns suered reprisal, namely whether any such
sta were disciplined, suspended or dismissed aDer raising concerns.

I presume from your reply that the trust has not carried out local surveys, using the governments recommended template for
such surveys (or otherwise), about stas experience of its whistleblowing arrangements. However, please address my original
quesKon and clarify if this is so.

As I observed previously, it is of clear public interest that there should be greater transparency about whistleblowing governance by
Guys and St. Thomas now that Dame Eileen Sills has been appointed as the Na8onal Guardian for NHS whistleblowing. I hope that
Guys and St. Thomas will provide clarica8on on these issues without further delay.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Minh Alexander

cc Dame Eileen Sills Chief Nurse Guys and St. Thomas NHS Founda8on Trust

___________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________\

MY PREVIOUS ENQUIRY OF 18 JANUARY 2016:

To Ann MacIntyre, Director of Workforce and Organisa8onal Development, Guys and St. Thomas NHS Founda8on Trust, 18 January
2016

Dear Ms MacIntyre,

Whistleblowing governance by Guys and St. Thomas NHS Founda>on Trust

Thank you for your aLached response to my request for informa8on about the trusts handling of whistleblowing governance and
adherence to exis8ng government guidance on good prac8ce. [1]. In my request

1) I asked if the Trust had collected data and monitored parameters as per the good prac8ce guidance

2) I asked the Trust to share its analysed data for calendar years 2013 and 2014.

In you response, you advised that the Trust has collected data in accordance with good prac8ce guidance. However, besides some
general answers, you have not shared the trusts data and you commented:

Where the informa.on has been collected it exists in dierent reports, some of which are conden.al in nature and therefore not
publically available

If the trust is fully implemen8ng government guidance, it should have analysed whistleblowing data that can be easily shared on an
anonymised basis. In other words, I asked for data that the trust should already hold and from which it should be ac8vely learning. If the
trust has not systema8cally analysed its whistleblowing data, I suggest that it should now do so.

Given that Dame Eileen Sills, the trusts Chief Nurse, is now appointed to the addi8onal post of Na8onal Guardian for whistleblowing, it
is of clear public interest that there should be greater transparency about whistleblowing governance by Guys and St. Thomas. I ask
again that the trust discloses data for each of calendar years 2013 and 2014, as follows:

1) Number and nature of concerns raised by sta

2) Number of events which might raise concerns that sta have raised concerns suered reprisal, namely whether any such
sta were disciplined, suspended or dismissed aeer raising concerns.


I presume from your reply that the trust has not carried out local surveys, using the governments recommended template for such
surveys (or otherwise), about stas experience of its whistleblowing arrangements. However, please address my original ques8on and
clarify if this is so.

Lastly, it has been reported that Dame Eileen has un8l now been the trusts corporate lead for the whistleblowing. [2] It has also been
reported that Guys and St. Thomas launched a Showing we care by speaking up ini8a8ve launched in June 2015. [3] I would be
grateful to make a fresh request and I ask the trust to share any documents about this recent work programme, including any proposed
evalua8on methodology and or any evalua8on data (including interim reports).


Yours sincerely,
Dr Minh Alexander
cc Dame Eileen Sills Chief Nurse Guys and St. Thomas

[1] Speak Up Safely for a Healthy NHS 2010
[2] hLp://www.hsj.co.uk/topics/workforce/top-nurse-appointed-na8onal-whistleblowers-guardian/7001442.ar8cle
[3] hLp://www.fabnhsstu.net/2015/09/15/guys-and-st-thomas-is-encouraging-sta-to-show-they-care-by-speaking-up/

From: "Coleman Michael (Information Governance)" <Michael.Coleman@gstt.nhs.uk>
Subject: FOIA Request Ref. No. 53354
Date: 15 February 2016 at 16:25:51 GMT
To: "'minhalexander@aol.com'" <minhalexander@aol.com>
Reply-To: ":FOI" <FOI@gstt.nhs.uk>

Dear Dr Alexander,

Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please nd attached, as a PDF document our responses to your request.


Yours sincerely,

Michael Coleman
Senior Information Governance Officer
Directorate of Information Governance and Management
First Floor, South Wing (near Chapel),
St Thomas' Hospital
Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7EH
Tel: 0207 188 7525 Ext. 54667
@ igteam@gstt.nhs.uk or foi@gstt.nhs.uk

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