More whistleblowers are reaching out for help on how to raise workplace concerns, according to new figures from whistleblowing charity Protect.

Calls to Protect's legal advice line rose by 23% in 2023 compared with 2022: the organisation worked on 3,047 cases last year.

Two in five callers (41%) to the advice line said their whistleblowing concern had been ignored by their employer while 21% of callers said their concern was under investigation. Of the calls taken in 2023, 15% said their employer had told them their whistleblowing concern was not valid.

The vast majority of calls (42%) came from the private sector; 24% came from the public sector and 23% from charities.

Protect’s chief executive Elizabeth Gardiner said ‘it was no surprise’ the organisation was seeing more calls to the confidential advice line acknowledging ‘high profile whistleblowing cases in the media, from the Countess of Chester Hospital raising concerns about Lucy Letby, to the workers in Fujitsu trying to prevent the Post Office miscarriage of justice’.

She added: ‘We should be pleased that so many people are coming forward and speaking up in their workplace to stop harm. Whistleblowers are a valuable resource to employers and protect the public interest by holding organisations and governments to account.’

 

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