Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Freedom to Speak Up mechanisms within NHS Trusts are (a) effective and (b) independent; and what procedures are in place for NHS Trusts that retaliate against staff who make protected disclosures.

The national Freedom to Speak Up policy, produced by NHS England, provides the minimum standard for local freedom to speak up policies across the National Health Service, so those who work in the NHS know how to speak up and what will happen when they do. This includes information on how to raise concerns internally, such as through the local Freedom to Speak Up Guardian network, as well to external bodies such as NHS England or the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of health and social care services in England.

The Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended, gives employees protection against unfair dismissal and all workers a right not to be subject to any detriment in employment, on the basis that the worker has made a protected disclosure. Where this right is breached, employees and workers have a right to seek a remedy through an employment tribunal.

The Government is also taking forward legislative change so that the Health and Care Professions Council can operate a barring mechanism for NHS board-level managers and their direct reports within this Parliament. This will help to ensure leaders are held professionally accountable for their work, just like their clinical colleagues.