Scottish NHS hotline gets callers from all over UK

More than a third of calls to a confidential phone line which allows health workers in Scotland to raise concerns about NHS practices have come from other parts of the UK.

The National Confidential Alert Line has received 53 calls since its launch last month. Of those, 19 were from NHS workers in other parts of the UK, with the rest from staff in Scotland.

Among the calls from within Scotland, 23 were of people anonymously raising concern about practices in the NHS and the other 11 were about personnel or contractual matters.

The phone line, which opened on April 2 as a year-long pilot, was introduced in the wake of the Francis Inquiry which uncovered “appalling” failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust in England.

Health Secretary Alex Neil said: “It is vitally important all NHS workers feel they can raise any concerns they may have about patient safety and malpractice because it helps to improve our health service. We have created a way staff can speak to an independent organisation anonymously and confidentially.”