No one has ever pretended that whistle blowing is an easy option. By definition, it is a strategy of (almost) the last resort. When bad, dangerous practice is uncovered it is important that it is challenged, and a whistle-blowing policy is designed precisely to do that.    

Good organisations will always welcome such actions, and indeed will encourage them. Their approach is simple: they are totally committed to delivering a high quality service, and will leave no stone unturned to achieve this goal. If a member of the organisation at any level notices that standards are slipping, or that someone has ‘let the side down’ in some way, the good organisation will welcome any and every opportunity to put things right. Everyone hopes that normal procedures willdo the trick: reporting concerns to one’s immediate line manager, for example. But if all else fails, the good organisation will thank the whistleblower for drawing attention to the deficit, and for taking sufficient pride in the organisation and its workto blow the whistle loud and clear.

Sadly this is not what everyone experiences. In the NHS in recent days there have been examples where a whistleblower has been punished and dismissed; and where bad practice has not been addressed. The concerns around children at risk in Haringey and Doncaster, and the growing concerns about the care of vulnerable frail older people are also contexts which highlight the need for informed whistleblowing.

It is, of course, a moot point about how far a whistleblower is entitled to go in seeking to uncover bad practice. Is it ethical, for example, for members of staff to use undercover hidden cameras to highlight bad practice and neglect? What is the ethical and professional dividing line between breaching confidentiality and the privacy of vulnerable people?

Undoubtedly some organisations have developed a culture of bullying and fear, in which any attempt to raise issues of concern or to identify poor practice is either ignored by managers when reported, or actively discouraged. It is difficult to imagine how staff and students on placement could fail to notice appalling standards of care, yet it sometimes takes a major crisis before ‘the lid is taken off’ a scandal that has been simmering for a long time.

Whether we work for a local authority, in health or social care – whatever the setting– we must accept the fact that whistle blowing takes courage, determination and persistence. In many ways whistle blowers are our contemporary prophets who point the finger to highlight bad practice; who speak up for the poor, the marginalised and the vulnerable, and who say ‘enough is enough’. Sadly such people are sometimes scapegoated, and are themselves victimised by those in power.They are made to feel they have dared, but have lost. But please God if ever we find ourselves in such a situation our personal and professional values will be strong enough to take the risk and blow the whistle. Our society would me immeasurably poorer if we ‘bottled it’.

Bernard R Moss

Senior Fellow and National Teaching Fellow, Higher Education Academy,Professor of Social Work Education and Spirituality, Staffordshire University

First published in Well-being 3.3. June 2009

This article is copyright Avenue Consulting Ltd. It may be reproduced in full provided that this copyright notice and information about its source (www.well-beingzone.com) are also reproduced. © 2009

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