The recent Francis Report into
how poor care at Mid-Staffordshire Foundation Trust was allowed to
happen, was another lesson in just how valuable whistleblowers are to
society. And yet as a society, we don’t seem to care that many struggle
to survive.
Whistleblowers perform a vital role in today’s world. They alert the public to financial fraud, abuse in institutions and
potential environmental disasters. For years, the NHS ignored attempts
by whistleblowers to raise concerns about care that was “substandard, and sometimes unsafe”,
while we now know that the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010 could
have been prevented had BP listened to just one of the many warnings
coming from whistleblowers inside the company.
As well as preventing damaging incidents like these, whistleblowers
can also save companies and organisations some serious cash. In recent
years, private sector whistleblowers have alerted their bosses to more
serious economic crimes than were spotted by all the “official”
fraud-spotters combined – the internal auditors, corporate security
personnel and law enforcers – saving on average $3m per case.
Approach with caution. (Photo: Holly Occhipinti, CC BY)