Case reviews | National Guardian's Office

The National Guardian’s Office (NGO) carries out case reviews to identify learning and support improvements in speaking up.

The NGO is developing the way it decides what is reviewed. These changes seek to:

Allow more workers to inform matters that are reviewed by the office, including workers who may face barriers to speaking up
Ensure reviews undertaken by the office have the greatest impact on the greatest number of workers by focusing on priority areas.

Potential themes for review will be identified through use of a broad range of indicators, including:

Staff engagement data (e.g. the NHS Staff Survey)
Speaking up to:
- Freedom to Speak Up Guardians
- Professional and systems regulators
- Workers’ representative bodies
- The NGO.

The NGO will launch this new process in Q1 2021/22.

The NGO suspended its previous selection process at 23.59 on 31 December 2020.

Referrals submitted to the office on or before 31 December 2020 are being assessed in line with the current case review process. Further information about the previous case review process can be found here:

Frequently asked questions

Case review summary

From 1 January 2021, information shared by individuals with the office will continue to add to our understanding of speaking up culture and arrangements in healthcare, and will inform decisions on reviews to be undertaken by the office.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions.