Patient safety

Gagging clauses banned by Department of Health

The Government has banned gagging clauses, which in the past have kept hundreds of NHS staff quiet over concerns with patient safety or care after they have been dismissed, faced with losing their severance pay if they speak out.

Staff will have a new legal right to blow the whistle on issues in the public interest.

The move follows the scandal at Mid Staffordshire, and almost £15m being spent over the past three years on compromise agreements with departing NHS staff. 90% of these agreements contained clauses to silence whistleblowers.

The trigger for the latest development was former United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust boss Gary Walker speaking out in a radio interview recently, technically breaking his own gagging clause.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt told the Mail: “We need a culture of openness and transparency if we are going to stop another Mid Staffs from happening.

“The era of gagging NHS staff from raising their real worries about patient care must come to an end. We are just going to ban them. All these compromise agreements have to be approved by the Department of Health and the Treasury.

“We are now saying we won't approve any with a confidentiality clause that prevents people from speaking out about patient safety or patient care. We will make sure there is a specific clause in them saying that nothing in them can prevent people speaking out on issues such as patient care.

“That culture of openness and transparency is at the heart of what we are trying to do to drive up standards across the NHS. This can only be part of our response to Mid Staffs. If we have a culture where whistleblowing is necessary then obviously something has gone wrong.”

Dean Royles, chief executive of the NHS Employers organisation, said: “We support initiatives that help create a climate of openness and transparency. NHS organisations know how crucial this is for building public confidence.

“Significant progress has been made in recent years to improve procedures for staff to raise concerns and the vast majority of NHS staff say they know how to and feel safe to do so. We want this to be the case for all our staff.

“Compromise agreements remain a valuable tool for both employers and employees and can be used in sensible and legitimate ways that reduce costs to employers, help ensure value for money and meet the interests of patients and the public.”

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