Freedom to Speak Up
How staff and others can raise concerns safely.
What Is Freedom to Speak Up?
Freedom to Speak Up is an NHS-wide scheme that gives everyone working in or visiting our practice a way to speak up if something isn't right. This page explains what it is, who it's for, and how to contact our Freedom to Speak Up Guardian.
Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) is a national NHS scheme. It encourages people to speak up when things aren’t right. You can do this without fearing unfair treatment. It was created after a review of NHS culture. Now all groups that provide NHS services, included ours, must follow it.
Every NHS organisation, including GP practices, must have a named Freedom to Speak Up Guardian — someone independent of day-to-day management who people can speak to in confidence.
Our Freedom to Speak Up Guardian
Information for Patients
Freedom to Speak Up is primarily a scheme for our staff. We’re sharing this because we think staff should feel safe to speak up. when they do, it makes the workplace better and safer for patients. We want to be clear about the standards we follow.
Information for Staff
If you work at Premier Medical Centre and have a concern — about patient safety, conduct, bullying, or anything else that doesn’t feel right — you can speak to our Freedom to Speak Up Guardian using the contact details above.
What you can speak up about
- Patient safety concerns
- Bullying, harassment, or unfair treatment
- Concerns about the conduct of a colleague
- Anything affecting your wellbeing or ability to do your job safely
- Any other concern that doesn't feel right, even if you're not sure it's serious enough
How speaking up works
- You can speak up openly, confidentially, or (in some cases) anonymously — your guardian can talk you through the options and what each one means for how your concern can be followed up
- You will not be treated unfairly for speaking up in good faith
- Your guardian will listen, help you understand your options, and support you to raise your concern through the right channel
- You can also raise concerns directly with the Practice Manager, a GP Partner, or through our usual line management routes — the guardian is an additional option, not a replacement for these
You can find the national Freedom to Speak Up policy and further guidance at england.nhs.uk/ourwork/freedom-to-speak-up.
Having a strong speaking-up culture is something the Care Quality Commission (CQC) looks for when assessing how well-led a practice is.
Important
If you have a concern about your own care or experience as a patient, please use our Compliments & Complaints page instead — this is the right route to make sure your concern reaches the right person and gets a proper response.
If you'd like to give general feedback about your visit, you can do this through our Friends and Family Test page
Want to Know More?
You can find out more about the Freedom to Speak Up scheme, and how it works across the NHS, at the NHS England website: england.nhs.uk/ourwork/freedom-to-speak-up.
Urgent help
Emergency? Call 999.
When we're closed, call NHS 111 or visit 111.nhs.uk.