1. Introduction

This guide describes the Speaking Up Support Scheme and explains how to apply. We encourage those individuals who wish to apply to the scheme to read this guidance before they do so. We also recommend that organisations providing primary and secondary NHS healthcare services ensure their departments, such as human resources, unions and Freedom to Speak Up guardians, are familiar with the scheme’s offer so they can better support and inform our NHS workers who, after a formal speaking up process, may need further support.

Please read the frequently asked questions about this scheme.

Sir Robert Francis’ Freedom to Speak Up Review (2015) highlighted the importance of enabling NHS workers to raise concerns in their place of work without fear of reprisals. In 2019 NHS Improvement launched the Whistleblowers’ Support Scheme to implement the recommendations under principle 12 of this review, which helped current and former NHS workers who had raised concerns to remain in or get back into NHS employment. The review recognised that after speaking up some workers were leaving NHS employment, to the detriment of them personally and the organisations they worked for. This caused a significant adverse impact on NHS workers and a loss of expertise and resource to the NHS.

The previous scheme found people experienced challenges in moving forward in their professional and personal lives and required support with their health and wellbeing, career coaching and personal development.

Following a review of the former scheme we have now redesigned the Whistleblowers’ Support Scheme and renamed this as the Speaking Up Support Scheme. This scheme offers past and present NHS workers who speak up a structured programme of support, enabling them to move forward in their professional and personal lives after a formal speaking up process.

The scheme is open to all those who meet the eligibility criteria, including workers at all band levels, from clinical and non-clinical backgrounds in primary care, secondary care and integrated care systems. We encourage all eligible NHS workers to apply to the scheme before the closing date on 30 June 2023.

This guide will help applicants understand:

• how the scheme works and what to expect from it
• the scheme’s eligibility criteria
• how to apply to the scheme
• the selection process including an informal discussion.

2. Speaking Up Support Scheme

2.1 Why does the NHS have such a scheme?

The NHS along with the National Guardian’s Office have established robust speaking up mechanisms to ensure the NHS operates a safe culture of speaking up for its workers.

However, some issues that NHS workers speak up about are very complex and the desired resolution is not always achieved. From experience we know these issues can have a significant adverse impact on NHS workers and organisations.

The inception of the national Freedom to Speak Up policy and Freedom to Speak Up guardians within NHS organisations have achieved positive outcomes for those NHS workers who have utilised a formal process to speak up. However, some NHS workers have experienced significant adverse impact on their professional and personal lives as a result of speaking up. This may be something that they have suffered inadvertently through unintended consequences.

NHS England has developed a structured programme to best support past [1] and present NHS workers who have been impacted as a result of raising concerns in their organisation during or after a formal speak up process [2], and as a result are finding it difficult to move forward in both their professional and personal lives. The scheme strongly aligns with our NHS people promise of ensuring “We each have a voice that counts”.

We recognise that speaking up can be difficult for workers, and we are ensuring the scheme is inclusive and accessible especially for those with protected characteristics and from seldom heard groups, including lower paid workers.

2.2 What does the scheme offer?

2.3 Eligibility criteria

To access the scheme, individuals will need to meet the essential requirements of the eligibility criteria below. Due to the over subscription of this scheme, applications will be scored against the following criteria:

[3] For the purposes of the scheme we are using the definition of worker found in the national speaking up policy

2.4 Selection process

How to apply

Individuals will need to complete and sign the following forms:

• Application form
• Equalities monitoring form (optional)
• Data processing consent form.

Please return all forms electronically to the Speaking Up Support team by the specified closing date: 30 June 2023. If it is problematic for you to apply via email, please do get in touch with the Speaking Up Support team so we can agree the best approach.

Current NHS workers are not required to gain consent from their organisation to apply to the scheme, but we recommended they discuss this with their managers, Freedom to Speak Up guardian or other senior leader to enable advocacy, learning and collaboration between the scheme and the organisation.

Individuals will need to commit to all aspects of the scheme including:

• an initial health and wellbeing session
• scheme duration between 8 and 9 months
• attending group sessions, one-to-one sessions and learning and development workshops
• reflecting and sharing learning
• providing feedback to support the evaluation of the scheme
• consenting to sharing their data with third-party suppliers for the duration of the scheme
• the scheme will be delivered via online platforms such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom – participants will need to ensure they have access to this.

Selection process

All applications are first read by the scheme staff to check the submitted forms are complete. If they find any omissions or require information to be clarified, they will contact individuals.

They will then refer the applications to the selection panel who will discuss and apply a scoring process. This is because the places on the scheme are limited, and we want to ensure that individuals who will benefit most from this intensive support scheme are selected.

The Speaking Up Support team will select those applicants with the highest scores and invite them to an informal discussion and keep all applicants updated about the progress of their application.

In the application form, and at the informal discussion, applicants will need to:

• demonstrate how they meet the scheme criteria
• describe why they think they will benefit from the scheme
• provide any appropriate evidence.

We request the minimum information necessary to allow the selection panel to select an applicant’s eligibility against the scheme’s criteria, and a scoring process will be applied to ensure a fair process.

All information collected is handled in the strictest confidence and is only shared with people who need to see it in relation to processing the application.

We will endeavour to keep the informal discussion process as simple as possible, and it will be conducted by a selection panel member who will be at least one of the following:

• a person who has experience of raising concerns
• an independent human resources professional
• an NHS England Freedom to Speak Up lead
• an NHS equality, diversity and inclusion lead
• a Freedom to Speak Up guardian
• specialist personnel (for example, clinical/medical/consultant/GP)
• a member of the Speaking Up Support Scheme.

Successful applicants  

The Speaking Up Support team will inform applicants if they have been successful shortly after an informal interview.

Once applicants are accepted onto the scheme, their contact details will be shared with the scheme providers. No other information in their application form will be shared; and this information is only used for the purposes of the selection process.

Unsuccessful applicants

The number of places on this year’s scheme are limited and there is no appeals process. Unsuccessful applicants will receive feedback and will be signposted to other available health and wellbeing resources. They can also reapply to future schemes.

3. What to expect from the scheme 

3.1 Scheme activities

Scheme induction

• This session gives participants the opportunity to meet each other and the Speaking Up Support team, trainers, and facilitators for the programme. Participants will also hear how the scheme works and have an opportunity to ask any questions.

Health and wellbeing session

• One of our trained specialists will undertake a health and wellbeing session with each participant. Participants can talk through their health and wellbeing needs and what they want to focus on while on the scheme. Participants will be provided with a development plan to capture their reflections.

Group/peer sessions

• We require all participants to attend group sessions with other scheme participants for self-reflection, sharing learning and developing new insights to move forward.

One-to-one psychological support

• Participants will receive up to five psychological support sessions.
• The content of these sessions is confidential to the participant and their psychologist.
• Detailed discussions with the psychologist will not be shared with the Speaking Up Support team, however, anonymised reports will be shared which contains no identifiable outcomes of individual participants. This information is solely for the overall evaluation of the scheme.
• Participants need to complete a separate consent form from the service provider to participate in this activity.

One-to-one coaching

• In these sessions, participants will identify personal goals, outputs and outcomes which will form part of their action plan/reflection log.
• Participants can access up to six hours of coaching to help them think about their career, or other matters that are important to them.
• The content of these sessions is confidential to the participant and their coach:
  • details of the discussions with the coach will not be shared with the Speaking Up Support team
  • however, the Speaking Up Support team will ask participants to share their personal development objectives and any actions they may take forward.

Learning and development workshops

• Participants will have the opportunity to attend development workshops and a return-to-work workshop, covering storytelling, moving forward after speaking up and career transition skills, for example.
• The Speaking Up Support team will be available to discuss any aspect of the scheme with participants, including any learning and reflection, and the progress they are making on their action plans.

Evaluation

• Feedback is important to us and to measure the effectiveness of the scheme we will seek this at the start, during and at the end of the scheme.
• For example, at the start we may ask participants to indicate what progress they want to make while on the scheme, and at the end whether they feel they have been helped to move forward.

3.2 Leaving the scheme early

The Speaking Up Support team will schedule check-ins with each participant throughout their time on the scheme.

We expect participants to remain with the scheme for its duration. However, if they wish to leave at any point, we ask that they email the scheme manager to confirm they are leaving and outline the reasons for their decision. You will be asked to complete an anonymous feedback form so that we can learn from your experiences.

If a participant fails to engage or fulfil their responsibilities as detailed in section 2.4, we may decide to end their participation on the scheme.

3.3 What happens after the scheme ends?

We expect current NHS staff to continue to discuss progress and future opportunities with their organisation while on the scheme. This could include discussions on being seconded to another team or undertaking work placements if it is important to them to take time out from their substantive role.

Please note that this scheme does not offer a work placement or job.

The Speaking Up Support team will provide as much support as possible during the life of the scheme. However, the team cannot provide any further assistance to a participant once they have completed the scheme. We will signpost participants to other national health and wellbeing support offers.

4. How NHS organisations can get involved

As mentioned earlier, speak up issues can be very complex, and the desired resolution is not always achieved. As well as having an impact on the worker, this can also impact an organisation.

The NHS encourages employers to see speaking up as a positive characteristic in an employee. As part of the scheme, executive and non-executive Freedom to Speak Up leads, senior leaders and managers, as well as leaders in primary care, will come together to share learning and consider improvements through facilitated discussions.

Organisations will have opportunities to hear from scheme participants (anonymised) about how the formal speaking up process could have been handled better for them.

NHS organisations need to ensure their policies and processes enable their workers to access information about the scheme and support successful applicants. We encourage all NHS organisations to ensure:

• their relevant departments, such as human resources, and their Freedom to Speak Up guardians are aware of the national Speaking Up Support Scheme offer
• their policies and processes reflect the principles in the Freedom to Speak Up guidance
• workers have easy access to information on how to speak up and the Speaking Up Support Scheme, and actively refer individuals to the scheme
• they are mindful of those workers who may have cultural barriers to speaking up or who are in lower paid roles and less confident to do so, and those who work unsociable hours and may not always be aware of or have access to the policy or processes supporting speaking up
• they communicate with all their workers by identifying the best channels to do so
• they reflect on any learning to build healthy cultures in which every worker feels safe to speak up.

5. Governance and monitoring

5.1 Personal data and confidentiality

• Participants joining the scheme will be asked to consent to: the processing of their personal data for onboarding onto the scheme; sharing their name, email address and telephone number with external providers contracted to support the scheme; and sharing information about their progress throughout the scheme with the Speaking Up Support team.
• These providers will deliver a health and wellbeing session and further clinical services, such as psychological support sessions, or career coaching, and undertake an in-depth evaluation of their scheme participation.
• We expect participation in group sessions and ground rules for these will include an agreement around confidentiality that all participants must respect.
• Further information around privacy is given on the consent form.

5.2 How we store, share, and use information

We may disclose participants personal data to other third parties if we are required to do so by law, a court order or in support of legal proceedings.

During the scheme we and our partners running scheme activities will contact participants to gather their feedback on how the scheme is operating, to enable us to continuously improve our offer.

5.3 Equalities monitoring

Under the Equality Act 2010 we must comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty. We therefore have a requirement to process equalities monitoring information under Article 9(2)(b) “…processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out the obligations and exercising specific rights of the controller or of the data subject in the field of suitable employment and social security and social protection law…”.

In accordance with the Equality Act 2010, we ask applicants to complete an optional equality monitoring information form so that we can ensure the scheme provides equal opportunities and does not discriminate. This equalities form will only be linked to the individual’s application form for analysis purposes. It will not be shared with the selection panel members. Application to the scheme will not be affected if an individual does not wish to give some or all their equalities monitoring information.

6. Responsibilities and definitions

6.1 Our responsibilities

The NHS Constitution sets out clear expectations for the behaviours of staff. We are committed to and strive to live the values of the NHS Constitution: working together for patients, respect and dignity, commitment to quality of care, compassion, improving lives, everyone counts. We have taken these values into account in the design and implementation of this scheme.

We will:

• do what we say we will do
• keep participants updated on the progress of their application
• listen and respond to queries or feedback within five working days
• be helpful and polite, and treat everyone fairly and with dignity and respect
• listen to feedback and use it to continuously improve the scheme
• respect and protect personal information
• deal with complaints promptly and sensitively; investigating thoroughly and fairly, and basing decisions on the available facts and evidence
• explain fully when things go wrong and say what we will do to put matters right as quickly as possible
• create and maintain reliable and usable records as evidence of our activities.

6.2 Scheme participants’ responsibilities

All scheme participants should commit to and strive to live by the values underpinning the NHS Constitution.

For the scheme to be a success, it is important that those individuals actively participate in the scheme and:

• respond promptly to our communications as this will help us progress things quickly
• let us know if their contact details change
• participate in surveys or evaluation requested by the scheme providers: feedback is valued and important for the continuous improvement of the scheme
• engage in the one-to-one and group sessions (and other agreed support)
• develop an individual personal plan
• treat all staff involved with the provision of the scheme with dignity and respect
• share any feedback or complaints as soon as reasonably possible
• let us know in writing if the scheme is not right or if they want to withdraw.

6.3 Definitions

Significantly adverse impact

For the purposes of this scheme, we define significant adverse impact as a person’s health and wellbeing being affected as a result of experiencing reprisal and/or disadvantage after speaking up through a formal process. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• leaving the team or organisation because the person felt they had no other option
• being moved to less desirable duties or locations
• being denied the information or resources to do their job properly
• being overlooked or denied access to promotion or training
• being criticised for speaking up
• being refused support to manage the stress associated with speaking up
• being bullied, excluded or treated negatively
• suffering ill-health as a result.

Past NHS workers

For the purposes of this scheme, a past NHS worker is someone who has worked for the NHS within the last three years but has now left NHS employment.

A formal process

For the purposes of this scheme, this is where an NHS worker raises a concern about unsafe practice, malpractice, or wrongdoing through their employing organisation’s formal process.