NURSES are afraid to ‘whistleblow’ about possible problems on hospital wards, a meeting heard.
A woman who said she was a student nurse raised concerns at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust board meeting last week.
She suggested nurses are afraid of being bullied if they report problems, adding: “I’ve got it from good sources that those nurses are under pressures.”
Malcolm Griffiths, a non executive director at the trust, replied: “Firstly no one wants anyone to keep their mouths shut. If you know staff members that are concerned about something have them whistleblow....
“We clearly hear your message. We’ll be discussing further what you’re saying. If there’s a feeling people can’t whistleblow we want to hear that.”
Last August, Mr Griffiths told a board meeting there had been “very few” whistleblowing incidents within the trust. He said at the time: “There are two ways to take that...one is the negative view.”
Chief nurse Lynne Swiatczak told that meeting that staff do raise concerns, but not necessarily through formal whistleblowing policies.
