SEPT have voted in Suzanne Deighton as the Trust’s Freedom To Speak Up Principal Guardian.
A key recommendation from Sir Robert Francis’s report into the culture of raising concerns within the NHS, published in February 2015, was the introduction of Freedom To Speak Up Guardians with responsibility for ensuring NHS staff feel confident in raising concerns. The role of the Trust’s Principal Guardian will ensure all staff within the Trust feel supported and encouraged to speak out about any issues, concerns or challenges.
The Board at SEPT felt that the most appropriate way to appoint the Trust’s Freedom to Speak Up Principal Guardian was through an election process where members of staff had the opportunity of selecting their choice of representative.
Chief Executive, Sally Morris commented “High on the Board’s agenda is our approach to clinical safety, and openness and transparency and we already have in place a number of mechanisms to enable staff to raise issues and the role of the Trust’s Principal Guardian will add to this.
“There were six nominees for the Principal Guardian and I was personally very pleased with the level of interest in both the Principal and Local Guardian roles.”
At the Board of Directors meeting on Wednesday 24 February 2016 Chief Executive Sally Morris announced that Suzanne Deighton, Local Security Management Specialist, had been elected as the Trust’s Principal Guardian.
Suzanne Deighton has been qualified as a mental health nurse (since 1981) but changed her professional role in 2009 to become the Trust’s Accredited Local Security Management Specialist. Her sound clinical background and the work she has done to protect and support staff in the work place made her the people choice winning 34.7% of the vote.
Suzanne Deighton commented “I believe in an NHS where patients come first and staff always feel safe to speak up, and staff are secure in the knowledge that any concerns they do raise will be properly acted upon. I believe in an NHS where honesty, integrity and transparency are not a goal to be achieved, but an absolute given when dealing with any concerns about patient care and safety.”