Response 31289982

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Royal College of Nursing Scotland
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42 South Oswald Road
Edinburgh
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EH9 2HH
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Community organisation
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The Role of the INO

1. Whats should the role of the INO be?

Please select one item
Option 1 - To consider complaints about the application of the local whistleblowing process only.
Option 2 - To consider complaints about application of the local whistleblowing process, including examination on the decision making and outcome of the whistleblowing complaint.
Please explain your answer.
We favour option 2. It is important that the INO has powers which are as robust as possible to ensure that wherever concerns remain after employer/board processes have been completed they can be investigated by and independent body.

Being able to determine that a decision is flawed, even if the process has been followed correctly, is critical to a robust investigation regime.

Principles and process for raising concerns with the INO

2. Do you agree with the principles and process for raising concerns with the INO?

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Yes
No
Please explain your answer.
The principles and process seem fair and not over-burdensome.

2a. Do you feel that there should be any additional principles or changes to the process for raising concerns with the INO?

Please select one item
Yes
No

2b. Do you agree with the proposed INO whistleblowing complaint criteria?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer.
We consider that these are fair as drafted but would, as stated in the consultation document, agree that it will be for the INO once established to determine final principles and process for considering whether a complaint should be investigated.

2c. Do you feel that there should be any additional complaint criteria?

Please select one item
Yes
No

Should the INO have prescribed powers?

3. Do you agree that consideration should be given to the INO having prescribed powers?

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Yes
No
Please explain your answer.
It is important, as stated earlier in this response, that the INO has robust powers. Not having prescribed powers limits the effectiveness of the INO.

3a. If yes, do you think that these powers should be:

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To compel a public body to provide evidence only?
To enforce recommendations, if required, only?
Both?

Where should the INO role be hosted?

4. Where should the INO be hosted?

Please select one item
Healthcare Improvement Service (HIS)
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO)
Do you feel there are alternative options for where the INO could be hosted, and if so where?
If an INO created as a new Public Body is not viable, we would see option two as the most suitable given the similarity between the responsibilities and remits of the SPSO and proposed INO.

Health and Social Care Integration

5. Do you think employees of adult health and social care services, who are not employed by NHSScotland, should have access to the INO?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer.
It is important that anyone working in health care services is able to raise concerns with the INO where appropriate and, as stated in the consultation document, as a final stage where other avenues have been exhausted or there has been inaction which the complainant feels is unacceptable.

5a. If yes, which IJB services should be covered?

Please explain your answer.
In time we would like to see all services falling under the remit of Integration Authorities being covered. We appreciate, however, that this will take time given the complexity of integration and the diversity of services and providers.

5b. If yes to Question 5, do you have a view on how employees who have access to INO could be defined?

Any NHS Scotland employee and any individual employed by an organisation contracted to deliver services, whether directly or indirectly, to service users by an integration authority.

What should the INO be called in Scotland?

6. What do you feel would be an appropriate title for the INO in Scotland?

Of the three options put forward we would favour NHS Scotland’s Whistleblowing Ombudsman.

6a. What do you feel would be an appropriate title for the INO in Scotland if the role also covered staff not employed by NHSScotland who deliver health and social care services in Scotland?

Scotland’s Whistleblowing Ombudsman for Health and Social Care

Additional comments on INO

7. Do you have any other comments to make on the proposals for the introduction of the role of INO?

We welcome this consultation which will help to pin down some of the finer detail around the INO. We have been working with the Government for some time to ensure that NHS whistleblowers have the support that they need, and getting the role and responsibility of the INO right is key to ensuring that support.