The Charity Commission has closed its compliance case into a Lincolnshire-based medical charity after allegations of toxic workplace culture were raised with the media.
Lincolnshire Integrated Voluntary Emergency Service, which provides medical aid to people across the county, previously defended itself against allegations of bullying and toxic culture after the BBC reported claims by 26 staff and volunteers, both former and current.
According to reports, nine of the whistleblowers described the charity’s culture as “toxic” and 12 said that working there had caused their mental health to deteriorate.
The charity rejected the claims, saying it was “truly saddening” to see people who it believed “have an axe to grind” being given a platform to air their grievances “without the burden of having to produce hard evidence”.
The Charity Commission has said that its regulatory compliance case into the governance and management of the charity – which was opened after trustees filed a serious incident report about the matter – had been closed.
The charity said that, following the regulator’s visit to Lives’ headquarters – which involved interviews with trustees and documentation reviews – the commission determined that no further action was necessary.
In a letter to trustees, seen by Third Sector, the regulator said trustees provided it with “extensive documentation and information, which, when reviewed, has provided assurance on the governance of the charity and how the trustees have strengthened many policies and procedures”.
The letter said: “The trustees have also updated us through the report of a serious incident channel where issues had been made public – eg an online petition and media articles regarding the governance of the charity.
“This submission provided further assurance in relation to the trustees’ handling of the concerns raised.”
A spokesperson for the regulator said: “We have engaged extensively with the charity’s trustees to establish the facts and, at this time, we have received the necessary assurance they have been handling the matters raised appropriately and we have concluded our case.”
The trustees of Lives said they were “always confident there was ample evidence to counter any concerns raised”.
They said: “We always said we were happy to present our case to the Charity Commission and we are delighted it has resulted in a positive conclusion.”