Speaking up reviews seek to identify learning, recognise innovation and support improvement, and, ultimately, improve the experience of workers, patients, and the public.

We work with others to carry out reviews and promote and embed the learning.

How we decide what to review

We seek to give as many workers as possible a voice in what we decide to review and, in doing so, aim to have as much impact as possible by focusing on areas of priority for workers.

We look at a range of indicators to inform our decisions as to what we review, including:

• Freedom to Speak Up Index 
• Freedom to Speak Guardian Speaking Up Data 
• Staff engagement data such as the NHS Staff Survey
• Information shared with the National Guardian’s Office

We are working with stakeholders to continue to improve the understanding of the speaking up landscape in healthcare in England.

We are also updating our processes and key documents about our speaking up reviews and will have more information about this in the coming months.

Upcoming reviews

Ambulance trusts perform comparatively less well compared to other trust types in the Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) Index. While the FTSU Index suggests a positive speaking up culture is associated with higher-performing organisations as rated by the Care Quality Commission, this correlation is less apparent with ambulance trusts.

We will be undertaking a piece of work with ambulance trusts and other stakeholders to learn why ambulance trusts tend to perform comparatively less well in the index. The review will also seek to understand better the relationship between the FTSU Index and CQC ratings.

Ongoing reviews

In Q3 2020/21, the NGO undertook a review of the speaking up culture and arrangements at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
This report will be published in due course.

Past Reviews