Whistleblowing

[Oldtimerneedsadvice]

Hello,
I'm an oldish (back in days of cod, morning paper, Xenia - if I can spell her name right) in need of advice
I work in NHS. It is known that a worker has been recording conversations with patients without their knowledge / consent. It's been going on for a few months. (They are doing it to cover themselves after a previous patient reported them for saying things which they denied)
only a few people know, of whom 3 have taken the issue to our manager. They said they would deal with it and not to tell anyone else about it. It would appear they haven't done anything and it is still ongoing. The worker is also refusing to let patients bring a chaperone in with them and refusing to allow assistants to work with them. Goodness knows what could be happening behind that curtain as the worker is not meant to be lone working.
Staff have complained previously about another worker who was inappropriate and were told to ignore it.
We are very short staffed and this is a locum brought in to try and ease waiting lists. If the worker goes we will be extremely stuck and liable to government fines for not keeping up with work load, hence I think management are letting them get away with this behaviour.

I'm sure it's illegal to record patient information / conversation on to a phone without the patients consent. (Plus information is not secure on a phone!) but I'm trying to find evidence for this to take to my manager.

Has any one whistleblown before and what's happened to you / them?
I work in a very small department and know I will get comeback for taking it further. I can't afford to take this further and loose my job but really feel that something needs to be done.

[Newtssuitcase]

Why do you think its illegal to record someone? It isn't BTW. It could be(and probably is) a breach of your trust's rules however and may also be a breach of professional guidelines..

You have protection if you are subjected to a detriment as a result of whistleblowing. That doesn't mean that nothing can happen to you for being the person who "rocked the boat" it just means that you have a potential claim if it does.

You have to follow your trust's process in order to have protection.

Depending on your role, you are potentially exposed yourself if you know about a breach of process with puts patients at risk and you don't advise management. This is particularly the case if you are in a managerial role. You could potentially be disciplined depending on the circumstances.

I'm an employment lawyer so PM me if you have very specific questions that you can't post.

[Oldtimerneedsadvice]

Thankyou,
Maybe not illegal but to record personal information (address and DOB) which is being given in confidence without the knowledge of the recording.
I'm assuming as it's not stored on an encrypted format that's against hospital policy as it is to deny the patient the right to chaperone.
I spoke to my manager in person and wonder now if I should have emailed my concerns to them as I have no proof that I have brought it to their attention.

[Newtssuitcase]

As I say it is likely to be a breach of trust processes (for example policies around patient confidentiality and also data protection policies). I would put it in writing.

[Oldtimerneedsadvice]

Thankyou. I'll put it in writing and at least I'll have evidence of putting my concerns across to them