EDITORIAL
Dear Prime Minister…
Editor in Chief Ian Peate Editor/Associate Publisher Julie Smith [email protected] Chief Subeditor Sarah Kahn [email protected] Subeditors Daniel Davies [email protected] Vicqui Stuart-Jones [email protected] Commissioning Editor Sue Woodward Group Classified Director Rachel McElhinney [email protected] Circulation Director Sally Boettcher [email protected] Associate Publisher Andrew Iafrati [email protected] MedEd Manager Tracy Cowan [email protected] Classified Sales Executive Harry Nolan Production Manager Jon Redmayne Production Assistant Larry Oakes Editorial Make-up Kyri Apostolou Publishing Director Anthony Kerr Managing Director Jon Benson Chief Executive Officer Ben Allen UK PERSONAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Quarterly Direct Debit Annual Direct Debit Annual Credit Card 2yr Annual Credit Card 3yr Annual Credit Card
£43 £169 £178 £303 £427
Subscribe online: www.magsubscriptions.com, Subscribe by phone: +44 (0) 1722 716997 Contact [email protected] for institutional pricing MA Healthcare Ltd is part of the Mark Allen Group
www.markallengroup.com The British Journal of Nursing is published by MA Healthcare Ltd, St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road, London SE24 0PB Tel: 020 7738 5454 Editorial: 020 7501 6716 Sales: 020 7501 6726 Email: [email protected] Websites: www.britishjournalofnursing.com
© MA Healthcare Ltd, 2015. All rights reserved. No part of the British Journal of Nursing may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission of the Publishing Director. The British Journal of Nursing is a double-blind, peerreviewed journal. It is indexed on the main databases, including the International Nursing Index, Medline and the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the editor or the British Journal of Nursing. Advertisements in the journal do not imply endorsement of the products or services advertised. ISSN 0966 – 0461 Print: Pensord Press Ltd, Blackwood, NP12 2YA Distribution: Comag Distribution, West Drayton, UB7 7QE Cover picture: iStockphoto.com The paper used within this publication has been sourced from Chain-of-Custody certified manufacturers, operating within international environmental standards, to ensure sustainable sourcing of the raw materials, sustainable production and to minimise our carbon footprint.
British Journal of Nursing, 2015, Vol 24, No 10
C
ongratulations on your recent election success. As you are aware, there are over 640 000 nurses and midwives on the professional register. Nurses are the largest professional group working in the NHS. It is acknowledged that the past 5 years have not been the best 5 years for our profession, with a raft of inquires and investigations concerning allegations of poor or substandard care, some bordering on abject cruelty. It is our profound belief that the NHS is made great not through the action of government alone, but through the flair, ingenuity and hard work of nurses and other NHS staff. Nurses are proud of what we have achieved in a fiscally cold climate, and we have an appetite to travel further in ensuring that what we do continues to enhance the health and wellbeing of the public. Nurses are optimistic about the future. We are optimistic about our ability and capability to offer care where the patient is truly at the centre of all that is done—care that is provided close to the patient’s home, using the myriad skills and applying the unique knowledge base that nurses and nursing possess. We look forward to realising with you and your government the aspirations laid out in your pre-election manifesto, as well as upholding the three core principles and values that guide the NHS: that it meets the needs of everyone; that it be free at the point of delivery; and that it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay, along with your party’s compassion towards the most vulnerable in our society and those who are unable to care for themselves. However, this cannot be done in vacuum and nor should it be. We welcome your commitment to ensuring that our National Health Service is there for us throughout our lives and your commitment to continue to increase spending on the NHS. The promised additional £8 billion available to the NHS by 2020 over and above inflation to fund and support the NHS’s own action plan for the next 5 years is eagerly anticipated. This has to be fairly distributed across the service and attempts to siphon all this off into non-patient-facing care should be avoided. Ensuring that people can see a GP and receive the hospital care that they need 7 days a week by 2020, with a guarantee that everyone over 75 will get a same-day appointment if they require one, is fully supported by nurses. But this will require investment in service provision. Failing to pay nurses for working unsocial hours or making adjustments to this aspect of their pay, as part of the discussion on 7-day working in the NHS, would only alienate them. Paying nurses for the work they do can only increase their allegiance to policy change.
The integration of health and social care, through your Better Care Fund, can only enhance the already exceptional job that nurses do, up and down the country at all times, day and night. A more harmonious approach to a seamless service for patients is essential in ensuring that the care the patient receives is centred on their needs. Leading the world in fighting cancer and finding a cure for dementia is something that our profession would stand right behind you on. It is imperative that nurses be supported in their quest to provide safe, high-quality care that is kind, compassionate and evidence-based, with access to training and environments where nurses can excel in what they do best: giving patient-centered care. They are laudable aspirations that make up your manifesto, demonstrating a profound expression that your government is steadfast in its commitment to the NHS. But is it committed to nurses and the nursing profession? If carried out in the manner that your manifesto describes, we can, together, make the NHS fit for purpose in the 21st century. But the ambitions in the manifesto will never come to fruition if you fail to recognise and reward the essential contribution that nurses make to the health and wellbeing of the nation.Your government must value nursing in word and deed, focus on the future of nursing and, in so doing, provide fair pay for nurses, the remuneration they deserve. Nurses strive to improve care and ensure patient safety during every patient episode. We can only do this where we have safe staffing levels and where our concerns are listened to and action is taken in response to those concerns. It is our expectation that your promised investments in the NHS (and future funding commitments) will lead to no more cuts to nursing and an investment in, and an increase in, much-needed community resources with workforce development that centres on patient need, not on corporate need. The health and wellbeing of the nation is our concern, as it is also yours, but for our efforts to have a positive impact on the people we have the privilege to serve, you must also play your part, delivering on what you have promised and providing us with the much-needed tools that we require to nurse. Nurses want to nurse; to put barriers in Ian Peate place that prevent them from Editor in Chief doing so would be scandalous. British Journal of BJN Nursing Yours sincerely…
515
British Journal of Nursing. Downloaded from magonlinelibrary.com by 130.194.020.173 on November 22, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. . All rights reserved.
Dear Prime Minister…
Editor in Chief Ian Peate Editor/Associate Publisher Julie Smith [email protected] Chief Subeditor Sarah Kahn [email protected] Subeditors Daniel Davies [email protected] Vicqui Stuart-Jones [email protected] Commissioning Editor Sue Woodward Group Classified Director Rachel McElhinney [email protected] Circulation Director Sally Boettcher [email protected] Associate Publisher Andrew Iafrati [email protected] MedEd Manager Tracy Cowan [email protected] Classified Sales Executive Harry Nolan Production Manager Jon Redmayne Production Assistant Larry Oakes Editorial Make-up Kyri Apostolou Publishing Director Anthony Kerr Managing Director Jon Benson Chief Executive Officer Ben Allen UK PERSONAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Quarterly Direct Debit Annual Direct Debit Annual Credit Card 2yr Annual Credit Card 3yr Annual Credit Card
£43 £169 £178 £303 £427
Subscribe online: www.magsubscriptions.com, Subscribe by phone: +44 (0) 1722 716997 Contact [email protected] for institutional pricing MA Healthcare Ltd is part of the Mark Allen Group
www.markallengroup.com The British Journal of Nursing is published by MA Healthcare Ltd, St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road, London SE24 0PB Tel: 020 7738 5454 Editorial: 020 7501 6716 Sales: 020 7501 6726 Email: [email protected] Websites: www.britishjournalofnursing.com
© MA Healthcare Ltd, 2015. All rights reserved. No part of the British Journal of Nursing may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission of the Publishing Director. The British Journal of Nursing is a double-blind, peerreviewed journal. It is indexed on the main databases, including the International Nursing Index, Medline and the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the editor or the British Journal of Nursing. Advertisements in the journal do not imply endorsement of the products or services advertised. ISSN 0966 – 0461 Print: Pensord Press Ltd, Blackwood, NP12 2YA Distribution: Comag Distribution, West Drayton, UB7 7QE Cover picture: iStockphoto.com The paper used within this publication has been sourced from Chain-of-Custody certified manufacturers, operating within international environmental standards, to ensure sustainable sourcing of the raw materials, sustainable production and to minimise our carbon footprint.
British Journal of Nursing, 2015, Vol 24, No 10
C
ongratulations on your recent election success. As you are aware, there are over 640 000 nurses and midwives on the professional register. Nurses are the largest professional group working in the NHS. It is acknowledged that the past 5 years have not been the best 5 years for our profession, with a raft of inquires and investigations concerning allegations of poor or substandard care, some bordering on abject cruelty. It is our profound belief that the NHS is made great not through the action of government alone, but through the flair, ingenuity and hard work of nurses and other NHS staff. Nurses are proud of what we have achieved in a fiscally cold climate, and we have an appetite to travel further in ensuring that what we do continues to enhance the health and wellbeing of the public. Nurses are optimistic about the future. We are optimistic about our ability and capability to offer care where the patient is truly at the centre of all that is done—care that is provided close to the patient’s home, using the myriad skills and applying the unique knowledge base that nurses and nursing possess. We look forward to realising with you and your government the aspirations laid out in your pre-election manifesto, as well as upholding the three core principles and values that guide the NHS: that it meets the needs of everyone; that it be free at the point of delivery; and that it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay, along with your party’s compassion towards the most vulnerable in our society and those who are unable to care for themselves. However, this cannot be done in vacuum and nor should it be. We welcome your commitment to ensuring that our National Health Service is there for us throughout our lives and your commitment to continue to increase spending on the NHS. The promised additional £8 billion available to the NHS by 2020 over and above inflation to fund and support the NHS’s own action plan for the next 5 years is eagerly anticipated. This has to be fairly distributed across the service and attempts to siphon all this off into non-patient-facing care should be avoided. Ensuring that people can see a GP and receive the hospital care that they need 7 days a week by 2020, with a guarantee that everyone over 75 will get a same-day appointment if they require one, is fully supported by nurses. But this will require investment in service provision. Failing to pay nurses for working unsocial hours or making adjustments to this aspect of their pay, as part of the discussion on 7-day working in the NHS, would only alienate them. Paying nurses for the work they do can only increase their allegiance to policy change.
The integration of health and social care, through your Better Care Fund, can only enhance the already exceptional job that nurses do, up and down the country at all times, day and night. A more harmonious approach to a seamless service for patients is essential in ensuring that the care the patient receives is centred on their needs. Leading the world in fighting cancer and finding a cure for dementia is something that our profession would stand right behind you on. It is imperative that nurses be supported in their quest to provide safe, high-quality care that is kind, compassionate and evidence-based, with access to training and environments where nurses can excel in what they do best: giving patient-centered care. They are laudable aspirations that make up your manifesto, demonstrating a profound expression that your government is steadfast in its commitment to the NHS. But is it committed to nurses and the nursing profession? If carried out in the manner that your manifesto describes, we can, together, make the NHS fit for purpose in the 21st century. But the ambitions in the manifesto will never come to fruition if you fail to recognise and reward the essential contribution that nurses make to the health and wellbeing of the nation.Your government must value nursing in word and deed, focus on the future of nursing and, in so doing, provide fair pay for nurses, the remuneration they deserve. Nurses strive to improve care and ensure patient safety during every patient episode. We can only do this where we have safe staffing levels and where our concerns are listened to and action is taken in response to those concerns. It is our expectation that your promised investments in the NHS (and future funding commitments) will lead to no more cuts to nursing and an investment in, and an increase in, much-needed community resources with workforce development that centres on patient need, not on corporate need. The health and wellbeing of the nation is our concern, as it is also yours, but for our efforts to have a positive impact on the people we have the privilege to serve, you must also play your part, delivering on what you have promised and providing us with the much-needed tools that we require to nurse. Nurses want to nurse; to put barriers in Ian Peate place that prevent them from Editor in Chief doing so would be scandalous. British Journal of BJN Nursing Yours sincerely…
515
British Journal of Nursing. Downloaded from magonlinelibrary.com by 130.194.020.173 on November 22, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. . All rights reserved.
