WHISTLEBLOWING POLICY - Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital

The Trust also aims to create a method by which employees can alert it to risks,practices or issues of which it may be unaware and which may be of cause forconcern.3. SCOPEThis policy applies to all employees and Directors of the Trust, including permanent,temporary and bank workers, and also to the self-employed, contractors andagency workers within the Trust.4. OUR ASSURANCES TO YOU4.1 Your SafetyThe Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust Board has approved this policyand is committed to its content and the spirit within which it was written.We undertake that if you raise a genuine concern under these guidelines, these willbe treated seriously and sensitively and you will not be at risk of losing your job orsuffering any form of retribution as a result. Providing you are acting in good faith, itdoes not matter if you are mistaken.The Trust does not extend this assurance to someone who maliciously raises amatter they know is untrue. In this instance this would become a disciplinary matterin line with the Disciplinary, Capability and Appeals Policy and Procedure.4.2 ConfidentialityThe Trust will not tolerate the harassment or victimisation of anyone raising agenuine concern. Reprisals against an employee in such cases will be treated as adisciplinary matter which may lead to a sanction up to and including dismissal.This policy encourages you to raise concerns and not to remain anonymous, byensuring that you will be protected from victimisation. However, if you wish to remainanonymous, we will attempt to protect your identity. This may not always be possibleas employees who report concerns may be required to give evidence as a witness, insituations where disciplinary or criminal action is taken.We will use our discretion in maintaining the anonymity of the individual concernedand will take into account various factors such as the seriousness of the issue(s)raised and the likelihood of obtaining information from alternative sources, whichwould confirm the allegation.We do not encourage employees to make disclosures anonymously. Properinvestigation may be more difficult or impossible if we cannot obtain furtherinformation from you. It is also more difficult to establish whether any allegations arecredible and have been made in good faith. If you are in any doubt you can seekadvice from Public Concern at Work, the independent whistleblowing charity, whooffer a confidential helpline. Their contact details are at the end of this policy withinsection 7.Whilst pursuing the aim of openness, it is imperative that patient confidentiality ismaintained and that confidence in the services provided by the Trust is notunreasonably undermined or compromised. Similarly, as employees have certainWhistleblowing PolicyJSCNC Approved October 2008OMG Approved November 2008Trust Exec March 2009Governance Committee September 2009Trust Exec September 2009 6 of 21JSCNC October 2008