What should managers or employers do?

To be an effective form of risk management, whistleblowing requires not only people to speak up, but also management or regulators to be willing to act on the concerns raised.

Employers and managers should ensure that their pharmacy has a whistleblowing policy in place, and that they are familiar with its contents.

Any concern raised by any employee should be:

• Treated in confidence.
• Taken seriously.
• Fully investigated.

Whistleblowers should not be treated differently to any other member of staff because they have raised a concern. This is commonly referred to as “not shooting the messenger.” The person raising the concern should not be subject to any detrimental treatment such as bullying, exclusion from work, overlooked for promotion or forced to transfer to another branch or pharmacy.

Employers should be of the opinion that staff who are empowered to raise concerns or provide feedback can help develop a culture of learning and development that will benefit the business as a whole. Highlighting areas for improvement should be considered a normal practice within any healthcare environment.