Page 1 Information Governance Medical Directorate NHS Grampian Rosehill House Foresterhill Site Cornhill Road Aberdeen AB25 2ZG BY EMAIL Minh Alexanderminhalexander@aol.com Date12 August 2015 Our RefFOI/2015/303 Enquiries toInformation Governance Team Extension51319 Direct Line01224 551319 Email nhsg.foi@nhs.net 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? Page 2 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 recordedas 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 Page 3 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 representativesto 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) oftheAct, if you are dissatisfied with the way NHS Grampian has dealt with your request, you have a right to request a review ofour actions and decisions Page 4 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 grampian@nhs.net Requestsforappealshouldbemadeinwritingto:ScottishInformationCommissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DSTelephone: 01334 464610, Fax: 01334 464611E-mail: enquiries@itspublicknowledge.info Yours sincerely Chris Morrice Information Governance Manager NHS Grampian