During a public inquiry which is an upshot of the 2009 Healthcare Commission report highlighting "appalling standards" of care particularly at Stafford Hospital, Dame Christine Beasley – the chief nursing officer of the government – said that NHS whistle-blowers needs a more fervent backing!

Stressing the fact that it was very difficult to explain why healthcare-related concerns were not reported or discovered sooner, Dame Christine said that it was essential that people “feel they are free to whistle-blow... without fear of victimization.”

Dame Christine argued in favor of the view that NHS whistle-blowers needing adequate support, largely because the 2009 Healthcare Commission report having drew attention to a disquieting situation in which hundreds of patients lost their lives due to serious failings in care during 2005 and 2008.

The Commission cited a catalogue of failings, which included cases where receptionists were pushed into service to assess emergency patients.

Noting that “(At the Mid Staffordshire trust), the employees probably were either distressed by the situation and left... or became desensitised to the situation and just carried on with their job, Dame Christine said in her written statement to the inquiry that there was “undisputedly more work to be done on whistle-blowing,” and that steps need to be taken to ensure that whistle-blowing “genuinely works”!