Professor Mike Bewick (2023)
Phase 1 review of university hospitals birmingham
"We heard repeated reports of a longstanding 'bullying and toxic' environment."
Independent Inquiry | Child Sexual Abuse (2022)
Children in the care of Lambeth Council
“Rather than a culture of openness and a willingness to improve when it came to the fundamental interests of children, there was instead defensiveness and resistance to change”
Sir Robert Francis (2015)
Freedom to Speak up
“There is a culture within many parts of the NHS which deters staff from raising serious and sensitive concerns and which not infrequently has negative consequences for those brave enough to raise them.”
Department of Health Review (2012)
Winterbourne View Hospital
"Where the leadership of an organisation allows a culture to develop that does not foster safety and quality in care, the people providing that leadership have to be held to account for the service failings."
it's not about blame or 'bad apples'
Staff feel blamed
Incident reviews and investigations tend to focus on individuals, not on systems. This means the learning is limited and that genuine sustainable change is difficult.
Staff feel overworked
The care professions often demand long hours in emotionally and physically demanding roles, leaving staff feeling undervalued and burnt out
Staff feel unheard
Unfortunately, many scandals in the health and care sector over the years have highlighted the same core problem - that staff were unable to speak up.