Band 8a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian | Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
| Posting date: | 17 September 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | Not specified |
| Additional salary information: | £55,690 - £62,682 per annum |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 17 October 2025 |
| Location: | Brimingham, B7 4BN |
| Company: | Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS foundation Trust |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 7489932/820-7397859-COR-A |
Summary
***This job advert will close as soon as sufficient applications have been received. Please apply for this job as soon as you can, if interested***
Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust vision is for best care and healthy communities through the expertise of its specialists and staff teams. The Trust recognises the importance for staff to feel valued and supported to achieve this and has set key objectives about this being a great place to work.
As part of this, we are looking for a caring and compassionate, highly motivated people who want to make a real difference, who can successfully engage with all staff, while remaining positive and flexible in challenging situations to fulfil the role of Freedom to Speak Up Guardian. The role is supported by a network of Speak Up Champions across the Trust who raise awareness and signpost colleagues who wish to raise concerns.
As the Freedom to Speak Up Guardians, you will be seen and known as someone in the Trust who staff can speak to in confidence if they have questions about a public interest concern or have concerns, they feel are not being taken seriously or dealt with effectively. You will play a key role in supporting staff to raise concerns and keeping them informed of progress and outcomes of any investigation. You will manage a confidential email and phone line and will record and respond to all enquiries.
Assisted by a number of FTSU local Speak Up Champions, the role of FTSU Lead Guardian is designed to contribute to achieving the following outcomes:
• A culture of speaking up is instilled and embedded throughout the organisation
• Speaking up processes are effective and continuously improved
• All staff have the capability and opportunity to speak up effectively and Managers have the capability to support colleagues who are speaking up
• Staff are supported appropriately when they speak up or support other people who are speaking up
• The Trust Board is fully sighted on, and engaged in FTSU matters and issues that are raised
• Contribute to national and regional FTSU network and comply with NGO guidance, ensuring that recommendations from reviews are analysed and actions implemented appropriately
Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BCHC) has more than 5000 staff working across Birmingham and the West Midlands in a wide range of community nursing and specialist healthcare roles. BCHC delivers over 100 clinical services, in people's homes, health centres, clinics and inpatient facilities. We deliver a wide range of services for children, young people, parents and families as well as adults and community services, two community hospitals, services for people with learning disabilities, the internationally recognised West Midlands Rehabilitation Centre and one of Europe’s leading Dental Hospitals and School of Dentistry. We deliver all of this with a commitment to integrated, personalised care that is rooted in our local communities. We have an ambition to deliver outstanding, integrated care as one of the key NHS providers in the West Midlands.
If you want to ‘Be Part of Our Team’ and work with a Foundation Trust which is continuously striving for best care and healthy communities, we want to hear from you.
The main duties and responsibilities for the post of FTSU Lead Guardian relate to the following key domains:
Culture – Develop and deliver communication and engagement interventions aimed at increasing the understanding and visibility of the FTSU Lead and Local Speak Up Champions roles amongst the organisation’s workforce. Promote local speaking up processes and sources of support and guidance, demonstrate the impact that speaking up is having in the organisation, and appropriately ‘celebrate’ speaking up. Ensure that staff are aware of, and have access to, support to help them speak up and through the Champions, ensure that ‘Freedom to Speak Up’ awareness reaches all parts of the organisation, and everyone has easy access to someone outside their immediate line-management chain who can advise and support them. Take action to ensure that groups that may face particular barriers to speaking up have the knowledge and support they need. Ensure that staff with disabilities and people from black and other minority ethnic backgrounds are encouraged to speak up and are not disadvantaged by doing so. Participate in the organisation’s education and development programme for all staff, so that they understand how they can raise concerns and for Managers about how they respond to concerns and supporting the member of staff appropriately.
In partnership with the Associate Director for Culture and Staff Engagement, members of the Equality and Organisational Development Team, HR professionals and other senior managers, review and act upon staff opinion and feedback arising from engagement activities, including annual NHS Staff Survey, Staff Friends and Family Test and exit interviews. The Lead Guardian will supervise and support the Champions in delivering the framework, assuring governance and data recording is in line with national standards.
Process improvement – Work with HR professionals, the Communications Team and others, to ensure that speaking up guidance and processes are clear and accessible, reflect best practice and address any local issues that may hinder the speaking up process. Assess the effectiveness of speaking up processes and the handling of individual cases, intervening when these are failing people who speak up, and making recommendations for improvement. The guardian will lead and engage any FTSU reviews within the organisation.
Capability – Assess the knowledge and capability of staff to both speak up and support people when they speak up. Ensure that all staff have the relevant skills and knowledge to enable them to speak up effectively, and those supporting, managing or investigating speaking up issues have the capability and knowledge to do this effectively. Ensure that appropriate items relating to speaking up are incorporated into induction programmes for all staff. Ensure that groups of staff and individuals who may find it difficult to speak up are identified and given particular support.
Supporting Staff – Ensure that information and data are handled appropriately, and personal and confidential data are protected. This will involve using technology for recording, analysing and reporting of issues raised, developing and presenting training materials to groups of staff and managers, and for developing marketing materials and feedback surveys.
Ensure that individuals receive appropriate feedback on how issues about which they speak up are investigated, and the conclusion of any investigation. Where necessary, provide additional support to people and groups who are experiencing difficulty with speaking up, or those who are experiencing difficulty in handling or supporting someone who is speaking up. Prepare regular raising concerns communications to staff, sharing non-confidential information and lessons learnt from concerns. Provide direct support and guidance in the development of appointed Speak Up Champions.
Working with the Board – Develop effective and open working relationships with the Chairman, Chief Executive, the Senior Independent Director, other Executive and Non-Executive Directors. Meet regularly, at least quarterly, with the Chief Executive to feedback themes from the concerns raised and to share positive and negative experiences and outcomes. As agreed with the Chairman, regularly attend meetings of the Board to report on Freedom to Speak Up activities (reports will include assessment of issues about which people are speaking up, trends, and barriers – particular attention will be given to concerns which may suggest a link to patient safety and quality). Acting as a ‘critical friend’ to Board members, support the Board in ensuring it takes appropriate action to create a Freedom to Speak Up culture, assess trends, and actively responds to issues that are being raised.
Safety and Quality – Take immediate appropriate action when matters about which people are speaking up indicate that safety and quality may be compromised. Develop measures, data sets, and indicators to monitor trends and identify linkages between issues raised through people speaking up, and issues raised through other safety and quality routes. Take responsibility to ensure that escalation to external bodies, outside of the organisation are appropriately used when required.
Wider NHS Culture – Participate in National Guardian Office activities and training, actively supporting fellow FTSU Guardians, developing personal networks and peer relationships, contributing to wider networking events such as the West Midlands FTSUG network, and sharing and learning from best practice. Where required, seek advice and guidance from the National Guardian’s Office. Keep abreast of developments and best practice, and assess own and Speak Up Champions’ development and training needs in addressing these. Guidance issued by the National Guardian’s Office should be followed, and feedback on its effectiveness and impact provided, and information provided to the NGO as required.
This advert closes on Wednesday 1 Oct 2025