The MP for a whistleblower who raised concerns about North East Ambulance Service has said a worrying Care Quality Commission report is "no surprise".
Grahame Morris - Labour MP for Easington - said the "hard work and dedication" of NEAS staff should be recognised, but said he was concerned they were working in a culture "where they do not feel respected, supported or valued". On Wednesday, the CQC published a report rating NEAS as "requires improvement" and highlighting a range of issues with governance and patient safety.
The report rated the NHS service "good" for being caring and responsive. But, according to a survey of almost 500 staff conducted by the CQC, more than half of staff feared raising issues at work for fear of repercussions.
One comment from a member of staff cited in the report saw talk of a "blame culture" and that workers feared that managers would "string them over the coals". NEAS pointed to the survey's sample size - around a seventh of its 3,500-strong workforce - and has said it "actively encourages" staff to raise concerns.
Over the past three years, Mr Morris's constituent Paul Calvert has raised a number of concerns - as a whistleblower - about the way in which NEAS discloses information to coroners. He has spoken of bullying and his employment was terminated last month.
Speaking after the new CQC report, Mr Morris said: "I have seen how the North East Ambulance Service deals with whistleblowers, like my constituent Paul Calvert. It came as little surprise that in the report staff did not feel they could raise concerns without the fear of blame or reprisal.
"The staff at the North East Ambulance Service are being let down by the Government’s failure to properly resource the service, but there is a culture and governance deficit in the service to the detriment of staff, particularly those who raise patient safeguarding concerns."
The CQC report highlighted concerns about the "Freedom to Speak Up" process at the ambulance service. "The numbers of people speaking up were low, and there were no freedom to speak up champions in the organisation," the inspectors said.
"We heard there were delays in the guardians being able to respond to even the low numbers of people speaking up due to the pressures of their substantive roles."
NEAS has said it is unable to comment directly on Mr Calvert's whistleblowing allegations as there remains an ongoing review led by former NHS hospital boss Dame Marianne Griffiths - set to report back this year.
A spokesperson added: "We have a workforce of more than 3,500 people and were disappointed that some staff in a CQC survey of 430 respondents said they felt they could not raise their concerns. We actively encourage our staff to raise concerns in the confidence they will be dealt with quickly and effectively."
Responding to the CQC report more generally - which gave the ambulance service 17 "must-do" actions under the 2008 Health and Social Care Act - chief executive Helen Ray said: "Providing the best possible care to all our patients remains our top priority. We are all committed to making improvements until we and the CQC are confident that the concerns raised have been fully addressed
"In the six months since the first inspection, we have taken swift action and subsequently provided additional assurance to the CQC that the work will ensure effective systems are in place to keep patients safe. We recognise there is more to do and are committed to longer term change as well as a short-term response."
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