Freedom to Speak Up

Every NHS trust must have a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian to give independent support and advice to staff who want to raise concerns.

Guardians work with all staff to help NHS trusts become more open and transparent places where staff are actively encouraged and supported to ‘speak up’ safely. Speaking Up is about raising concerns when something is wrong, negligent, improper or illegal – anything that gets in the way of doing a great job.

Ensuring that staff feel free to speak up about any concern they may have at work is really important. In fact, it’s vital because it helps us to keep improving our services for all patients and the working environment for our staff.

Staff who have any concerns at work should speak to their line manager in the first instance to give them an opportunity to take action. If you have tried this, or you do not feel that route is appropriate, you can talk in confidence to Eric Sanders who is the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian at UHBW – email or call 0117 34 22888 and leave a message – or contact any one of the more than 90 staff champions located across UHBW. Contact details for the champions are available on the intranet.

There are other routes for patients and their families to raise matters of concern or to make suggestions for improvement, including the Patient Support and Complaints team.

• View the Freedom to Speak Up Annual Report 2022 - 2023
• View the Freedom to Speak Up strategy
• National Guardian’s Office