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PEOPLE WE'VE HELPED

Filter our case studies by type of concern raised:

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  • furlough fraud
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  • maladministration of medication
  • misconduct
  • misuse of funds
  • nhs
  • patient safety
  • Racism
  • social work
  • theft
  • unsafe equipment
  • unsafe staffing levels
  • work safety

When settlement is the preferred outcome

Helena* worked in the distribution factory of a well-known food company. She was an agency worker, so effectively worked for both her agency and the distribution factory as both played a role in determining the terms of her engagement. At work, Helena noticed a culture of racism including racist language being used by senior members of staff, as well as working practices which disadvantaged Muslim workers.

Side effects of speaking up as a social worker

Eleanor* was a social worker, whose work often brought her to her local hospital to support patients. Over time, she grew increasingly uneasy about the inadequate handling of patient safety, and decisions not being taken in the best interests of vulnerable people. She felt that a manager appeared to be discharging patients who weren’t ready to go home.

Reaching out to the regulator

During the course of his job, Oliver realised his company had hired someone who had previous convictions for a serious financial crime. Oliver had been made to do a DBS check when he joined so was shocked this person had been hired.

HSE take action following whistleblower’s safety concerns

Amal* works for a charity providing wellbeing services to vulnerable adults. She called Protect following a serious incident where a service user had physically threatened her. Amal explained that she had raised concerns previously about the charity’s building not being safe for workers following previous incidents. She told us her requests for securing the premises and implementing additional safety measures for staff had been ignored.

Standing Up for Standards: A Police Officer’s Struggle to Address Unqualified Police Trainers 

As a new recruit in the police force, Mary* was shocked to discover what was happening amongst police officers in her area. Mary knows that so-called “trainers” are responsible for teaching police officers how to do their job and issuing licenses to those who have completed their training. However, Mary came across compelling evidence suggesting that more than a hundred trainers themselves were unqualified and lacked oversight of who had completed their training.

Advice for Union Reps supporting migrant whistleblowers

Protect was contacted by a Union representative who was supporting a group of migrant workers in a care home. They sought our support on the whistleblowing aspects of their members’ cases.   The members were not UK nationals and had obtained jobs through a recruitment agency. They were made to pay a significant amount in recruitment ... Read more

Dentist reaches settlement after victimisation for whistleblowing

Richard (not the whistleblower’s real name) was a dentist at a small practice for several years. Richard enjoyed the work, but started to notice things were going wrong at the practice. He had concerns about the safety of patients, with errors being made on patient records and some patients complaining about the poor standards of ... Read more

Health and Safety gone mad?

Helen (not their real name) worked as a hardware trainer at various sites across the UK. She would train the staff on how to use the equipment safely. Helen became increasingly alarmed by the dangerous equipment she saw on site and how staff were being subject to unsafe working conditions. This included observing defective, broken ... Read more

The cost of victimisation

Kevin (not the whistleblower’s real name) became concerned that his employer’s general approach of selling products to customers could be seen as mis-selling.   He raised his concerns to more senior managers at the company but was met with indifference, with a Director telling him he personally would accept the risk of such practices. Kevin felt that ... Read more

Poor practice at the practice? 

Michael worked at a dental practice and called us because he had some concerns about the practice. He was worried about the safety of the building and that staff were not ensuring instruments were suitably clean and sterile before use with patients.   Managers had failed to take these concerns seriously when Michael spoke to ... Read more

Charity worker raises furlough fraud concerns

Thomas has worked for a charity providing services for young people for six years. He called with concerns that the charity had committed furlough fraud- he was asked to agree to backdate documentation stating that he had been on furlough during a period when, in fact, he had been working. Thomas raised this issue with his manager who dismissed his concerns, refusing ... Read more

Blacklisted – or simply bad luck?

Georgia worked as an electrical engineer on a major transport project. She reported that electrical installations did not comply with health and safety standards. When no action was taken she resigned in frustration and the following year the contractors in question were replaced.

Supermarket worker speaks up about health and safety concerns

Graham (not his real name) worked in a managerial role at a supermarket and became concerned about the supermarket’s health and safety practices. He saw examples of staff working in unsafe conditions, with their own health and safety being disregarded. Food produce regulations were not being followed, such as frozen food being sold after it … Read more

Teacher speaks up over student safeguarding concerns

Niamh (not her real name) was a teacher in a special needs school and had safeguarding concerns surrounding the behaviour of one of the other teachers at the school. Niamh witnessed a teacher showing her colleagues a sexually explicit image of one of the students. The same teacher also spoke inappropriately about her own sex ... Read more

Food factory worker raises concerns over lack of COVID-19 safety measures

Katie (not her real name) was a manager in a food manufacturing factory. She had a number of health and safety practice concerns around COVID-19. While Katie’s employer had some safety measures in place, she was concerned that the factory had not been effectively cleaned and decontaminated, and several employees had tested positive for COVID-19 ... Read more

Accountant speaks up over construction company’s financial malpractice

Robert (not his real name) was an accountant at a construction company. He was concerned that his employer was committing fraud. In particular, Robert believed his employer was processing personal transactions with company finances, creating fake employees on payroll records, and falsifying company invoices. Robert raised these concerns with his manager. Unfortunately, his manager dismissed ... Read more

Furloughed restaurant employee had concerns over illegal working ignored

During the Covid-19 pandemic – whilst restaurants were required to be closed – Jamie’s employer told him they would be opening a take-away branch of the existing restaurant and wanted the help of furloughed staff to run it. Jamie (not his real name)objected and challenged this on the basis that it is against the Government ... Read more

Education worker bullied for raising health and safety concerns

Mary (not their real name) worked at an independent school for children with special educational needs. She was only there only a short time when she started having a number of health and safety concerns about the school. Mary never received any appropriate health and safety training from the organisation, despite being designated the lead … Read more

Mental health worker speaks out over poor patient care

Gillian (not her real name) worked for the NHS for over 20 years. She worked with patients with acute mental illness. Gillian had concerns about poor patient care. This included poor communication, a failure to engage with vulnerable patients, nurses turning up to work late and leaving early, nurses falling asleep on shift, and low … Read more

Finance worker speaks up over fake charges to clients

Patrick worked as an adviser in the financial services industry. He was concerned that his employer had been breaching Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulations for a number of years. In particular, Patrick’s firm was charging clients for advice that it had not given and it assessed the performance of its employees by using targets that … Read more

Nurse speaks up over medicine maladministration at care home

Delia (not her real name) worked as a nurse at a care home. Delia witnessed numerous incidents regarding the maladministration of medicine. This included overstocking out of date medication and the administration of overdue and incorrect medication. She raised her concerns with her manager in the first instance, and escalated this to the care home … Read more

Food supplier fails to test food hygiene

Denise (not her real name) was a manager for a food supplier in the airline industry. Denise’s employer had reduced the number of staff on her team which meant that she and her remaining co-workers did not have capacity to conduct food and hygiene tests on goods. This risked leaving the food unsafe to eat ... Read more

Food producer exposes goods to contamination

Blake (not his real name) worked as an engineer for a food producer. He was concerned that products were not being properly cleaned during production and goods were being exposed to contaminated water and excess chemicals. He also told us that the warehouse where he worked did not have a safe fire alarm system. Blake ... Read more

Food manufacturer sells out of date and illegal food

Allan (not his real name) worked for a manufacturer of international food products. He was concerned by a number of incidents that he had witnessed. He told us that use-by-dates on products were regularly removed and changed, and illegally imported products were hidden during inspections from Trading Standards. He was also concerned that colleagues were ... Read more

Care workers help to stop abuse of vulnerable residents

Simon (not his real name) worked as a senior care assistant. He observed one of the nurses slap residents and, on one occasion, he saw the nurse put his hands around a resident’s neck and force them into their room. Simon could only hear a scream and some banging after this. Simon did not want ... Read more

Whistleblower exposed to asbestos speaks up to regulator

Tom (not his real name) worked for an asbestos removal company for several years. A foreman in the company was ignoring the safety procedures for handling asbestos and failed to test a connecting room where Tom was working. This exposed Tom to white asbestos and he contacted Protect for advice. We advised Tom to seek ... Read more

Unsafe food practices resolved by whistleblower speaking up

David (not his real name) was a maintenance engineer at a large UK food manufacturer. The company was in the process of transferring its production to a new building which involved using welding equipment and potentially hazardous cleaning materials. David was concerned that this could contaminate food on the production line. He worried that management ... Read more

Social worker speaks up about inappropriate relationship

Andre (not his real name) was a residential social worker in a children’s home. He was increasingly concerned that a colleague, Lionel (not his real name), seemed to have developed a close relationship with a 12 year old girl in the home. During a holiday, Lionel insisted that the girl should travel in his car ... Read more

Fraud in family company puts whistleblower in difficult position

Jin (not his real name) was the personnel manager for a family-run engineering firm. In the past, the family managers of the company had used company money to pay for private work done on their own homes. Jin had let this pass as it was a family business but two employees recently told him that ... Read more

Manager convicted for theft in care home

Felix (not his real name) worked in a care home. He and some of his colleagues believed that a manager was stealing from residents by recording money as being given to particular residents when they had received none. Felix raised his concerns with the owners of the home and an investigation quickly found that Felix ... Read more

Protect helps food sector whistleblower agree £100,000 settlement

Jada (not her real name) was a manager for a well known food chain. A new Divisional Director told managers to complete staff satisfaction surveys themselves, rather than their teams, as this would boost their bonuses. Jada thought this was wrong and raised her concern to the Compliance Team in the United States. They assured ... Read more

Fraud in charity stopped by whistleblowers

Maz (not her real name) was a manager for a large company that serviced equipment in the homes of a national charity. On return from holiday, Maz’s team told her that the manager had shown them how to alter the billing system so that the charity would be charged for twice as much work as ... Read more

Care worker thanked for raising patient safety concerns

Manisha (not her real name) worked as a senior care coordinator in a care home. A member of staff forgot to give some residents their medication so the home manager flushed the remaining packs of drugs down the toilet to cover-up the mistake. Manisha raised her concerns to head office who suspended the manager and ... Read more