A SURVEY of the region’s nurses has found that more than a quarter were discouraged or told by bosses not to raise concerns over patient safety.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) described the results as “alarming” and said it suggested a problem more widespread than originally feared.

They found that from the nurses from this region who responded * 28 per cent said that they been discouraged or told directly not to raise concerns about patient safety * Less than half – 49.6 per cent – had received feedback from their employer or manager after raising concerns * Just a third – 33.9 per cent – said their employer had taken direct action to resolve their concerns about patient care after they had reported it.

* 60.3 per cent of those questioned would not be confident they would be protected by their employer if they raised concerns about patient care.

The RCN’s national survey involved more than 3,000 nurses working in both the NHS and private sector, including 121 from the North-East and Cumbria.

One nurse in the region taking part said: “Unfortunately there is still a culture of blame and scapegoating in this trust.”

Another commented: “My trust says it supports [whistleblowers], but I have seen many instances where people have been made to suffer because of whistleblowing.”

The survey follows criticism last week of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) – which inspects hospitals and care homes – by the Audit Commission which said it was failing in a number of areas. It is previously said to have failed to act over whistleblowers’ concerns.

Acting regional director of the RCN Estephanie (CORRECT) Dunn said: “These results are alarming. It would be worrying enough to learn that any nurse was being told by their line manager not to report concerns over patient safety.

“But the fact that over a quarter of nurses in our region that responded to the survey said that this had happened to them suggests that the problem is not an isolated incident of bad management, but is rather more widespread than we had feared.

“It is also alarming to learn that a significant number of nurses are not seeing managers take action, after they have reported their concerns.”