The role of a Confidential Contact within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is to provide informal signposting and support to staff who have a whistleblowing concern.
They provide a listening ear, information about whistleblowing policy and procedures, and signposting to other more formal sources of support, such as their trade union.
Confidential Contacts are able to support staff appropriately. They know the possibilities for a way forward, and are able to present options that inform the member of staff to allow them to make their own decisions.
The role of a Confidential Contact is in addition to their substantive role.
Confidential Contacts will not make judgements about anyone who accesses them.
Maintaining confidentiality
The nature and content of discussions with a confidential contact are private and personal to the member of staff, and as such, will not be discussed with anyone else without the express permission of the individual involved.
However, there are limits to this confidentiality. For example, if the member of staff, or others, are being subjected to unlawful behaviours or harm, the Confidential Contact has a duty of care to report this.
If you speak to a Confidential Contact, your name and contact details are only known to the Contact who is providing support, unless you request of give your approval for this information to be shared.
Any notes from discussions with employees will be destroyed once the monitoring process is complete.
The names and contact details of Confidential Contacts are listed below:
Members of staff who have a whistleblowing concern are encouraged to make contact with the person above who they feel is most appropriate for them. Often, the selection is random, but staff seeking support can approach a contact in another division for confidentiality reasons, or if they feel more comfortable with this.
Confidential contacts do not represent or provide advice to staff, and will not act as intermediaries in disputes. They do not provide any counselling or therapy services. They also do not accompany individuals in hearings or meetings about their complaint.
These pages provide information on food, fluid and nutritional care within NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health & Social Care Partnerships and Mental Health Services.
Food Fluid and Nutrition is fundamental to health and wellbeing and therefore to quality and safety in healthcare (Healthcare Improvement Scotland 2014). It has been well reported that malnutrition (over and under nutrition) is a public health issue with recent UK figures suggesting malnutrition costs the NHS £23.5 billion (BAPEN 2018). Malnutrition is common in those who access health and social care services, it continues to be under-identified and under treated leading to poorer clinical outcomes and greater healthcare costs.
Food Fluid and Nutrition Oversight Group
The purpose of the Food, Fluid and Nutrition Oversight Group is to provide a strategic, co-ordinated and multidisciplinary approach to drive the quality of and improvements in the nutritional care of the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Population. Specifically addressing the needs of the most nutritionally vulnerable groups who access healthcare through co-operative and collaborative action across the entire Health Board
Health and Social Care Partnerships Group
The Health and Social Care Partnership Group for Food Fluid and Nutrition is established to provide leadership and co-ordination of all aspects of Food, Fluid and Nutrition across the Health and Social Care Partnership, ensuring the process leads to the delivery of excellent nutritional care and a better patient experience. The HSCP groups include representation from District Nursing, Rehabilitation Services, Older People’s Mental Health, Learning Disability, Care at Home, Care Homes, Dietitians, Speech and Language Therapy and Health Improvement.
Mental Health FFN Group
The NHSGGC Mental Health Food, Fluid and Nutritional Group (MH FFN) is a sub group of the NHSGGC Community Food, Fluid and Nutrition Operational Group and is established to provide strategic leadership and co- ordination of all aspects of Food, Fluid and Nutrition across all NHSGGC Mental Health services – Ensuring the process leads to the delivery of excellent nutritional care and an improved patient experience Representation from NHSGGC Mental Health Services includes both mental health in-patient and community services from the Older Adult Mental Health, Adult Mental Health, Forensic, Adolescent, Addictions, the Adult Eating Disorder Service and Learning Disabilities (in patient only)
Acute FFN Operational Group
The Acute Food, Fluid and Nutritional Operational Group (FFNOG) is established to provide strategic leadership and coordination to all aspects of Food, Fluid and Nutrition across adult and paediatric acute inpatient services. This ensures that the process leads to the delivery of safe, effective and person-centred nutritional care and a better patient experience.
Please use the drop downs below to navigate the information related to food, fluid and nutritional care within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health and Social Care Partnerships, Mental Health and Acute Services:
This manual is pertinent to all NHSGGC mental healthcare workers with a duty of care to provide optimal nutrition for patients within NHSGGC. The purpose of the nutritional manual is to assist all healthcare workers who work within NHSGGC mental health in patient and HSCP services. The delivery of this role is supported by a number of FFN policies and procedures which are explained within this manual.
Section 1 Introduction to Nutritional Care in NHSGGC Mental Health Services
Five short e-learning modules relating to Food, Fluid and Nutrition are available to staff across NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde on the LearnPro platform. Below indicates the intended staff groups for each module and a short introduction to the module content.
Over 50% of Scotland’s population are women and there are 32,344 women working for NHSGGC. Throughout her life course, women and girls experience various health needs and risks which are not the same as men
[While we have used the term ‘woman/women’, it is important to note that some transgender men, non-binary people, intersex people and those with variations in sex characteristics may also experience issues and require access to women’s health services]
The Scottish Government Women’s Health Plan (2021-2024) underpins actions to improve women’s health inequalities by raising awareness around women’s health, improving access to health care and reducing inequalities in health outcomes for girls and women, both for sex-specific conditions and in women’s general health.
To support the implementation of the plan, NHS Inform has a dedicated Women’s Health Platform, which sets out information on women’s health at key stages of life, from puberty to later years.
To explore the full range of topics covered visit:
Sometimes it can feel embarrassing talking about periods – but periods are normal. You are entitled to ask for the help that you need to experience good menstrual health and wellbeing.
Everyone experiences periods differently, but it’s important to know what isn’t ‘normal’. If you have any concerns, pain or discomfort during your period, there’s lots of help available. You don’t have to suffer.
Endometriosis is a long-term (chronic) condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb is found elsewhere in the body. It’s very common, affecting around 1 in 10 of those who menstruate. For some people, it can have a significant impact on their physical health, emotional well-being, and daily routine.
Endometriosis UK is the national charity committed to providing support services, reliable information and a community for those affected by endometriosis
A recent webinar from EXPPECT Edinburgh on being newly diagnosed in Scotland, what is endometriosis, the diagnosis journey and pain management is available to view below:
This Conversation Café toolkit provides resources to facilitate conversations, and encourage information sharing and peer support on areas within women’s health. The toolkit is a guide for delivery, which can be used flexibly by organisations, community groups, employee groups or with friends to set up, host and evaluate an independent Café.
For more information on how to access and use the toolkit, and the accompanying resource hub:
For any questions about this or additional information on the Conversation Café toolkit please email: whp@alliance-scotland.org.uk
Heart Health
Mythbusting women’s heart health – Webinar recording
The Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) in partnership with the Scottish Government, hosted a webinar exploring women’s heart health.
Heart disease is a major cause of ill health and death for women in Scotland, and certain risk factors may have more of an impact on women’s risk of heart disease than men’s. Despite this, the awareness of women’s experience of heart conditions is limited and heart disease in women is not commonly represented.
Menopause
Menopause is when a woman stops having periods. Menopause means ‘the last menstrual period’ and around 400,000 women in Scotland are of menopausal age. While it is a natural and inevitable part of the life course, the timing and symptoms are different for everyone.
NHS Inform has a range of information – including 7 ‘Menopause Myths’ videos – on perimenopause (the period leading up to menopause when women can also start to notice changes and experience symptoms), menopause and post menopause including what to expect, available treatments and where to get support and help.
For a quick overview please see the following short videos and recorded webinar produced by The Alliance:
Menopause Wellbeing Webinar
Further Information on Menopause
Menopause at work
Menopausal women are the fastest-growing demographic in the workforce, so it’s important to be able to speak openly about menopause at work.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde recognises that for some the menopause is not always an easy transition. Some employees may need additional considerations to support and improve their experience at work.
Some people find it hard to manage menopause symptoms at work. It’s important to remember that the menopause is a normal time in women’s lives and that support is available to help you feel comfortable at work.
Changes in your hormones during menopause can impact your mental health as well as your physical health. You may experience feelings of anxiety, stress or even depression.
Further information and support is available from NHS Inform:
The National Wellbeing Hub Menopause resource provides you with guidance and support for managing your menopausal symptoms and helping your colleagues manage theirs.
Anyone can use the Healthy Minds sessions to raise awareness of mental health. Each session has a PowerPoint presentation and facilitator’s notes to guide you through delivering the session
If you are a member of staff and you need to raise a concern about patient safety, working conditions or wrongdoing, you should firstly speak to your manager, supervisor or clinical director, either informally or formally.
The new National Whistleblowing Standards for the NHS in Scotland came into force on 1st April 2021 and apply to anyone working to deliver NHS services. It’s important that you know what options you have to raise a concern in confidence and in a protected way.
You can access the relevant resources using the buttons below.
In most cases where something is going wrong, as a learning organisation, everyone should feel empowered to ‘Speak Up’ to their manager, or someone else within their department. In raising issues locally results in most issues being resolved quickly in a co-operative way. We recognise that some of our colleagues do not feel comfortable raising issues in this way; or if they have raised the issue locally they feel unheard or unsupported. The Whistleblowing Process ensures that these individuals, or groups, have a route by which they can raise these issues in a confidential and supported way.
As Whistleblowing Champion for NHSGGC, what do you consider the biggest challenge in the process?
As Whistleblowing Champion it is my endeavour to change the stigma around whistleblowing; this is bigger than just one organisation, however, I am keen that we utilise this function as a transparent and trust building tool when highlighting issues within our services.
All NHS employees are legally protected when raising concerns about our organisation. Within the whistleblowing process we ensure confidentiality by removing identifiable data; however, we recognise within smaller services anonymity can be harder to maintain. We ensure that our whistleblowers are aware of their right to protection, and within this they are able to flag to the Whistleblowing Lead if they feel they are being treated unfairly as a result of raising concerns.
With regards to the stigma around whistleblowing, what reassurance could you offer as Whistleblowing Champion?
The new Standards were introduced in April 2021 and with this there has been a more robust reporting procedure in place. This has allowed for greater transparency across the organisation alongside the ability for us to learn from feedback and recommendations. These recommendations are routinely followed up until they are deemed as ‘concluded’ by the investigating officer. The quarterly and annual whistleblowing reports are reviewed by the SMT and Non-Exec Board Members. These are also available on our website for public consumption, further reinforcing transparency around the process.
Kim Donald, Whistleblowing Lead
As Whistleblowing Lead for NHSGGC, what advice would you offer those looking to raise concerns?
I would encourage colleagues to utilise our Confidential Contacts where they are able to discuss their concerns, confidentially, and receive advice and signposting to the appropriate services for support. Our Confidential Contacts are familiar with the Whistleblowing Policy and will be able to address concerns regarding the process.
I would also reinforce Charles’s sentiments regarding fighting the stigma of whistleblowing. As Whistleblowing Lead for the organisation I would reassure colleagues that the investigation process is fair and transparent.
A colleague is worried about raising concerns in case they get into trouble, what would your advice be?
As Charles has indicated, all NHS employees are legally protected when raising concerns about our organisation. I also ensure that confidentiality is protected at all times; and this is reinforced within our correspondence. If a colleague is very worried about the repercussions of raising a concern, they have the option of raising this anonymously; we would follow the same process and ensure concerns were investigated, however, we would be unable to provide the outcome of the investigation nor offer the opportunity to escalate to the INWO.
I would reassure colleagues that they will have the support of their Confidential Contact, as well as my support, throughout the process and should they feel they are being treated unfairly as a result of raising their concern then this is an issue I would look to investigate with HR colleagues.
Support Materials
Posters and leaflets
If you require printed materials, either additional copies of the Speak Up posters, or the leaflet, please contact: ggc.staffexperience@ggc.scot.nhs.uk
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