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The Whistleblowing Bill and
APPG Reports
Read the text of the Whistleblowing Bill
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Read the text of the Whistleblowing Bill 〰️
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The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Whistleblowing was launched in July 2018 with the aim to put whistleblowing at the top of the agenda. Whistleblowers remain the vital element of a transparent society without whose voice many more unethical activities and crimes would remain unknown, with far reaching impacts on our society and communities.
This report examines how whistleblowers fare at Employment Tribunals. In 1998, with the implementation of the Public Interest Disclosure Act through the Employment Rights Act, Employment Tribunals became the de facto bearers of justice for whistleblowers. Today, we question whether that is indeed the most appropriate institutional arrangement to, on the one hand redress and deter reprisals against whistleblowers, and on the other hand address the wrongdoing that whistleblowers raise concerns about.
Read the All-Party Parliamentary Group report: “Making whistleblowing work for society”
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The notion of drawing attention to wrongdoing by ‘blowing the whistle’ originates from the Metropolitan Police Force who in February 1884 issued 21,000 whistles, the nineteenth century mobile phone! The effectiveness of blowing the whistle can be seen to this day on sports fields around the world. A whistle remains the most effective means of being heard above the crowd and drawing attention to an issue.
Read the All-Party Parliamentary Group report on whistleblowing: “The Personal Cost of Doing the Right Thing and the Cost to Society of Ignoring it”
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NHS whistleblowers still face consequences
NHS whistleblowers still face consequences
Criticism of NHS managers over the treatment of whistleblowers has been reignited by Donna Ockenden’s damning review of maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust.
Her findings come seven years after the “Freedom to speak up?” report from Sir Robert Francis QC, which found that NHS staff feared repercussions if they blew the whistle on poor practice. He recommended reforms to change the culture and support whistleblowers.
The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 makes it unlawful to subject workers to negative treatment or dismiss them because they have raised a whistleblowing concern, known as a “protected disclosure”. But critics say little has changed since the Francis review.
Those seeking to vindicate their rights before an employment tribunal, Khan adds, will often be “priced out of justice” by well-resourced NHS trust lawyers who at public expense “deploy a menu of tactics” to defend cases. This includes triggering satellite litigation to strike out claims as a means to drain resources and threatening six-figure costs applications. “Trusts rely on law firms to use litigation as a form of attrition to erode the confidence, finances and mental health of the whistleblower,” adds Georgina Halford-Hall, the director of WhistleblowersUK