Whistleblowing is a term used in the UK for an employee that passes on information regarding wrongdoing within their organisation. To reduce the risk of abuse in care settings, employees are protected from any discrimination or reprisals that may result from them ‘blowing the whistle’ on legitimately unsafe or unlawful practices.
If you have any concerns about the way your organisation conducts business, you should report them to your manager in the first instance. This includes policies and procedures that you may believe are unsafe or have the potential to cause harm or organisational activities that you believe may be unlawful or not meet minimum standards or best practice.
If your manager does not treat your concerns seriously, you should escalate them to a senior manager. This may be an area/regional manager or member of the board of directors. Your organisation will have a Whistleblowing Policy that will direct you on whom concerns should be reported to.
If the unsafe and/or unlawful activities continue and your employer is not taking any action then you will need to escalate your concerns to outside agencies. This could include:
- Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- Social Services
- Police