Whistleblowing or Raising a Concern

A concern should be raised as soon as possible after the poor practice has been observed.

In the context of whistleblowing, poor practice is any action that:

1. Compromises the safety or well-being of an adult with care and support needs;
2. Compromises the safety or well-being of any informal carers; or
3. Compromises the safety of a child.

It does not matter whether the poor practice is internal (within our service) or external (e.g., a visiting professional).

If you require advice about whistleblowing before raising a concern, you can contact the Whistleblowing Helpline for Health and Social Care anonymously:

Tel: 08000 724 725

Email: enquiries@wbhelpline.org.uk.

Internal concerns are those relating to practice within our service i.e. the actions of your colleagues.

Concerns should be raised with your line manager, unless the concerns relate to them. In this case, you should speak to their line manager or the registered person. Under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, you must be provided with a private and safe space to raise your concerns and be listened to.

If the concerns relate to the registered person, it is normally appropriate to report your concerns to the Care Quality Commission.

See: Contact us by online form.

Tel: 0300 061 6161

Email: enquiries@cqc.org.uk

You are not legally required to provide any evidence to support your concern, but any evidence that you do have should be provided. For example:

• The date, time and location of an incident;
• The names of any potential witnesses;
• Copies of relevant correspondence such as letters, emails, or text messages.

External concerns relate to the actions and practices of visiting professionals and other service providers. For example, a day service or social activity provider.

External concerns should be raised in line with the whistleblowing procedures of the relevant organisation. These can usually be found on their websites.

You are not legally required to provide any evidence to support your concern, but any evidence that you do have should be provided. For example:

• The date, time and location of an incident;
• The names of any potential witnesses;
• Copies of relevant correspondence, such as letters, emails or text messages.

Sometimes the outcome of the investigation will be that the allegations made are unfounded (not true based on the available evidence).

If the original concern was raised in good faith, no further action will be taken.

If the original concern was raised maliciously or for personal gain, the service may decide to act against the staff member who raised it.

If the nature of the concern indicates that the person being supported is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing abuse or neglect, a safeguarding concern should also be raised with the local authority.

For further guidance see:

Recognising Abuse and Neglect

Disclosure and Raising a Concern

Depending on the nature of the concerns raised and the outcome of the investigation, there could be a legal requirement to notify the Care Quality Commission and/or commissioners.

For guidance on CQC notifications, see Notifications: Guidance for non-NHS trust providers.

Information about notifications to commissioners will be found in the contract between the service and the commissioning body.

If you are a student on placement, whistleblowing concerns should still be raised to address poor practice. However, please be aware that the protections in the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 do not apply. This means that prior to raising a concern, you should always seek advice from your University, a trade union or the Whistleblowing Helpline (details above).

Whilst the legislation relating to whistleblowing applies to ‘workers’, which does not include Shared Lives Carers who are self-employed there is a clear expectation that Shared Lives Carers will report to an appropriate authority any circumstances within the Service which they consider likely to significantly harm the safety, rights, or welfare of any adult placed by the Service. As good practice, the Service will ensure that Shared Lives Carers making ‘whistleblowing’ disclosures in good faith will not be discriminated against or suffer detriment as a result.