Case: 202502489
NHS organisation: Dumfries and Galloway NHS Board
Subject: Patient safety
Outcome: Not upheld
Date: May 2026
Summary
C complained to the Board about the failure of management to follow the compliance procedure for Locum Consultants before they operated a particular specialist piece of equipment. They also complained that it was difficult to escalate concerns regarding compliance and that there was no respect for C’s role in ensuring compliance requirements were met. The Board investigated these concerns under the National Whistleblowing Standards and confirmed that several improvements had been made since the initial concerns were raised and that further work was required in promoting awareness of C’s role and in relation to monitoring, reporting and escalation.
C was dissatisfied with the Board’s stage 2 response, stating that the Board had not taken their concerns seriously, that they had relied on evidence provided by management and that the improvement work referred to in the stage 2 response had not led to change. C did not believe that the Board’s investigation had addressed their concerns.
We considered the evidence provided by C and the Board in relation to the complaint and sought independent clinical advice. We found that the Board’s stage 2 response lacked detail on the work being carried out to improve compliance and that this had likely contributed to C’s belief that their concerns had not been taken seriously. However, we noted that the Board offered to meet with C to explore a positive way forward regarding their ongoing concerns, which would have provided a valuable opportunity to explore any other areas where they felt improvements may be beneficial. We also found that the Board’s investigation into the whistleblowing concerns was impartial, thorough and the two improvements made as a result of C raising concerns had mitigated against risk to staff and patients.
We did not uphold the complaint. We did, however, provide feedback to the Board about complaints handling and the importance of a good quality stage 2 response.