We want everyone working in the NHS to feel safe and confident to speak up and all NHS leaders to welcome this opportunity to learn and improve.

We seek to improve the quality of speaking up arrangements across the NHS in a number of ways:

• We evaluate whistleblowing concerns raised by people working within the NHS about the way NHS organisations operate; their cultures and the quality of care they provide.
• We use staff experiences; learning from the handling of speak up matters and best practice to form the basis of policy, guidance and resources.

This supports leadership teams to improve the Freedom to Speak Up arrangements they have put in place.

How we deliver this work

The NHS England Freedom to Speak Up team brings together specialist functions to support this work:

• Whistleblowing team: manages whistleblowing cases as part of NHS England’s statutory role as a prescribed body.
• Freedom to Speak Up Development and Support team: works with Freedom to Speak Up guardians and stakeholders across the NHS to develop and embed positive speaking up cultures.