Sir Robert Francis

     It has long been recognised that enabling healthcare professionals to                 speak up about concerns at work is a key element of the promotion of                 patient  safety. The Final Report of the Freedom to Speak Up review of               whistleblowing   processes in the NHS was published on 11 February                     2015.

Sir Robert Francis recommends the implementation of twenty “Principles” and “Actions” by organisations which provide NHS healthcare and by professional and systems regulators. These measures are to address “an urgent need for system wide action,” in spite of some positive developments in the handling of whistleblowing processes since the February 2013 report of the public inquiry into the failings at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.

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