I am honoured to be asked to be this week's guest blogger. My name is Nicola Bamber and I am the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian here at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.
As a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian, I am here for any member of staff who wishes to raise concerns. Everything anyone tells me is completely confidential and I work with the individuals involved to try and resolve their issues.
We want ELHT to have an open and honest culture where colleagues feel able to speak up safely and this is just one of the means that enables staff to do that, along with speaking to their managers or senior team.
I have worked in the NHS in a variety of non-clinical roles since graduating in 2008. I've worked as a Medical Secretary, a Waiting List Manager and most recently I was Project Lead to develop volunteers in the Pennine Lancashire area. I was privileged to become a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian in 2019 after returning from maternity leave and I am absolutely honoured to hold a role which is so important and can help so many people.
I am really passionate about providing a safe space for colleagues to raise concerns and speak up. We don't want anyone to suffer in silence, especially if it has an impact on patient care.
Today, my blog coincides with the launch of Freedom to Speak Up Month which happens every year in October. This is a national awareness campaign which hopes to highlight the importance of speaking up and we want to raise awareness of how much we value speaking up in our organisation.
The theme of this year’s Speak Up Month is “Speak Up, Listen Up, Follow Up”. To make speaking up business as usual it is essential that when people speak up, they are listened to and that learning and improvement happens as a result. Throughout the month we will be issuing a series of messages to highlight the importance of speaking up so please keep an eye out and share across your networks.
Take care,
Nicola