Tom Bell
Research focus: Whistle-Blowing in the NHS
The treatment of whistleblowers in healthcare services is a contentious polarising issue. Current efforts to revise the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA 1998) are occurring in the wake of increasing recognition that it is widely deemed no longer fit for purpose. The planned upcoming implementation of the proposed Hillsborough Law will place a legal duty of candour on public officials in the UK. The recent parliamentary inquiry into the links between leadership in the NHS and performance and patient safety, is expected to highlight the links between psychologically safe and just cultures, within which it is deemed safe to speak up, and patient safety. The nationally mandated creation of ‘Freedom to Speak Up Guardian’ roles in English NHS Trusts came into force in 2016 but the initiative has been inconsistently implemented producing mixed results. This PhD will aim to review and then meaningfully and objectively classify the current state of perceptions, understandings, and interpretations of whistleblowing and whistleblowers at senior levels in UK healthcare services.
Supervised by Prof Tom Grimwood (tom.grimwood@cumbria.ac.uk), Dr Lisa Booth (lisa.booth@cumbria.ac.uk) and Amelie Perron from Ottawa University.