Intimidating email sent to all NSFT staff

This email has been sent to all Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) employees on Tuesday 20th May by Gary Page, Chair and Andrew Hopkins, Acting Chief Executive:

Dear Colleagues,

You may well be aware that our Trust has recently been the subject of much media interest as a result of a UNISON-backed campaign, which is criticising how it is dealing with the freeze on NHS funding.

We are disappointed that members of staff have been going directly to the media, as we pride ourselves on our whistleblowing process.  Safety and the quality of our services are our priority – they are critical to the Trust, to our staff and of course to our patients. We also have a duty to protect public money, which is important because money that is wasted affects patient care.

We have an excellent record of staff reporting incidents and also in responding to ‘whistleblowing’. We are proud of the fact that we have the highest level of incident reporting in East of England and have frequently self-reported matters to the CQC, although indicators show we are as safe – or better – than other Trusts.  This was emphasised by the Royal College of Nursing’s Regional Director at the Trust’s Annual Nursing Conference last week.

For further information about our whistleblowing/public interest disclosure guidelines, please click here.

I would like to remind staff that those who decide to go to the media directly may not only be putting the safety of our service users and colleagues at risk, but may also be in breach of their professional code of conduct.

If you have any safeguarding concerns, you should speak to your line manager in the first instance. However, if the concerns are more serious, please contact:

• Trust-wide Confidential Public Disclosure telephone line 01603 xxxxxx or email xxx@nhs.net with ‘whistleblowing’ in the subject line.
• NHS helpline/whistleblowing available to both health and social care staff 08000 724 725
• Care Quality Commission public disclosure/whistleblowing 03000 616 161