Community Care
reports on a study by the charity, Public Concern at Work. It shows foster
carers and social workers to be at risk of disciplinary action for whistle
blowing.
The survey revealed that the most common reason for
children’s care professionals blowing the whistle was because of abuse to those
in their care and concerns about the safety of service users.
A separate Community
Care survey found that of those who had reported concerns, more than 70%
said no effective action had been taken. Some respondents had had disciplinary action taken
against them and reported that they were reluctant to raise safety concerns in
future.
These findings are deeply worrying. Organisations that
inhibit people from raising safety concerns are inherently unsafe
organisations. Managers are simply refusing to understand and address the potential
for error that lurks in working practices, procedures and systems.
Practitioners are being made to shoulder the burden of working unsafely. Service
users are being put at risk. It is unfair and it is dangerous.
An organisation that takes safety seriously is one that encourages
anybody with a safety concern to speak out. Such organisations actively promote
reporting of safety concerns. They make it easy for people to report. They
congratulate them for doing so and welcome the opportunity to learn and
improve.
Organisations that punish people who report concerns
preclude learning and development. They remain intractably unsafe. They put welfare
and lives and careers at risk. In short they are a disgrace.
