There is a romanticism at the heart of processes meant to put an end to unacceptable practices going unchecked in the NHS and wider healthcare sector. Those in senior managerial positions, often distant from the direct work of providing treatment and care to patients, demand that everyone has an unquestionable duty to speak up, to tell ‘the truth’ – an advocacy that co-exists with faith in the power of formal organisational procedures, focused on individual courage and with limited attention to relational context.
