A trainee in a professional occupation was concerned about practices in one of her placement work areas.
She had seen different systems of work in other hospitals and in other parts of Cambridge University Hospitals which prompted her to raise suggestions for improvement in an education support meeting.
The response was that there was a lot of pressure in that work area and no capacity to consider different ways of working which left the trainee feeling disempowered.
She approached the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian because she felt it was important for her concerns to be properly listened to and addressed. Together they examined ways of speaking up, including what approach and language to use in seeking to raise the issues with the manager.
The trainee requested a meeting with the manager who asked for the concerns to be put in writing, but no meeting was arranged.
The guardian stayed in touch with her to provide advice and review progress. When the trainee rotated to a placement at another hospital, the guardian secured her agreement to continue to pursue her concerns.
These are now being taken forward by the Divisional Head of Workforce and part of the review is looking at the way in which managers listen and respond to concerns raised with them and what action needs to be taken to improve this.
This case study was part of our 100 Voices publication which accompanied the 2019 Annual Report.
Case studies are vital to illustrate the good work of Freedom to Speak Up Guardians. We encourage all organisations to share the learning from their speaking up stories.
If you have a Freedom to Speak Up story to share, please send an email to [email protected]