Alison Weir, a GP practice manager in Glasgow, shared some of the challenges in speaking up and whistleblowing faced by those working in primary care – e.g. GPs, dentists, optometrists, and community nurses. These are often small organisations, whose staff are known to each other and in the community.
Their challenges include speaking up in a small organisation, low levels of awareness of the National Whistleblowing Standards and not knowing where to find resources about support and speaking up.
Alison highlighted staff’s struggle to find enough protected time within working hours to do the training. She suggested this could be addressed by providing bitesize training of no more than 15-20 minutes sessions. The shortest online training currently available is 60 mins.
Alison also discussed issues around confidential contacts being hospital based. She felt they do not always have enough understanding of primary care’s unique challenges, such as speaking up in a small organisation.
Despite these challenges, Alison acknowledged that current speak up culture in primary care is generally healthy. She offered helpful advice to other practice managers and primary care providers:
"Having a culture in your practice where people feel comfortable to speak up is very valuable. You want your colleagues to feel comfortable enough to knock on your door and have a chat. Ultimately, we are in the caring profession and people want to do the right thing.”
Rosemary Agnew, the Independent National Whistleblowing Officer (INWO) for the NHS in Scotland, commented:
“I really appreciate Alison’s willingness to share her experience, and her candidness about the challenges primary care staff face. I recognise that while we have come a long way, this is a continuing journey for all of us, and we all need to take on board how we support primary care workers to be confident in speaking up. The system should care for our workers, as much as they care for patients.”
You can watch our full interview with Alison here: Interview with Alison Weir, GP Practice Manager