Freedom to Speak Up (FtSU) Guardians
Every NHS trust must have a Freedom to Speak Up (FtSU) Guardian to give independent support and advice to staff who want to raise concerns.
The role came about following the inquiry into Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust in 2013.
Guardians work with all staff to help NHS trusts become more open and transparent places. Employees are encouraged to 'speak up' without fearing the consequences.
We have a Lead FtSU Guardian and local Guardians available to support staff on the five OUH sites.
Freedom to Speak Up is linked to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and included in the 'Well led' domain.
FtSU guardians offer:
- support and advice for staff who speak up, or are supporting a colleague who is speaking up
- feedback on investigations and the conclusions
- immediate action if patient safety is compromised
but do not:
- carry out investigations
- solve relationship problems in teams or between members of staff
- deal with concerns raised by patients or visitors.
Freedom to Speak Up Strategy
Our Freedom to Speak Up Strategy 2019-22 has been approved by the Trust Board.
Freedom to Speak Up Strategy 2019-22 (pdf, 606 KB)
It sets out our Freedom to Speak Up vision:
"To promote and ultimately create an open and transparent culture where every member of staff can and should speak up safely, action is taken so the concern is resolved and our patients ultimately benefit."
Freedom to Speak Up Index 2021
The Freedom to Speak Up Index is a key metric for organisations to monitor their speaking up culture.
The 2021 Index Report was published on 27 May 2021.
Our score is 80.3 percent, which is above the national average of 79.2 percent.
It is also a year-on-year improvement - our score in the 2020 Index Report was 79.5 percent.
Further information
Independent advice is available from the National Whistleblowing Helpline:
08000 724 725