News Kate O’Hanlon 1930-2014 Former sister of the emergency department at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, Kate O’Hanlon has died. Described as ‘an outstanding nurse and a distinguished member’ of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), Ms O’Hanlon began her general nurse training at the Royal Victoria Hospital in 1958. Once she had completed this training, she moved to Liverpool to train as a midwife and then returned to Belfast to work as a district midwife in the Docklands area of the city. In 1966, Ms O’Hanlon returned to the Royal Victoria Hospital as a staff nurse in the accident and emergency department, later being appointed first a ‘blue sister’ and, in 1970, a ‘red sister’. She was sister in charge of the department for 16 years, her career spanning the height of ‘the Troubles’ in Northern Ireland. She was responsible for setting up the RCN Northern Ireland accident and emergency nurses forum. She also served as a member of the UK A&E forum, which she chaired for many years. Ms O’Hanlon retired early due to ill health in 1988 but continued to play a significant role as a Friend of the Royal, particularly in raising funds to support the continuing professional development of nurses. She travelled widely, attending conferences to talk about her experiences, and formed part of a United Nations delegation to Gaza and the West Bank to assess emergency facilities during one of the intifadas, or uprisings, by Palestinians against Israel. Ms O’Hanlon was a Dame of the Order of Malta and, in 2007, received an RCN lifetime achievement award. In 2008, she published her memoirs, Sister Kate: Nursing through the Troubles. She was made an MBE and, in 2009, received an honorary doctorate for services to nursing from the University of Ulster. 6
September 2014 | Volume 22 | Number 5
Major incident plan proves success in managing migrants STAFF FROM Basildon University Hospital deployed their major incident plan last month to care for families found in a shipping container at Tilbury, Essex. Port staff discovered 35 men, women and children from Afghanistan in a container that had arrived from Belgium. One man, Meet Singh Kapoor, was found to be dead. Eleven adults and seven children under the age of ten were taken to Basildon, where staff put their major incident plan into action and cleared the emergency department to deal with the patients. Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust associate director of quality and nursing Matt Rangué, who was nurse controller on the day, said: ‘The situation was different because we received families as opposed to individuals. So we changed our
Emergency nurses should not be blamed for delays in care NURSES IN Northern Ireland think that they are being scapegoated for delays in emergency departments (EDs), the RCN has warned. In written evidence to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s (HRC) public inquiry into emergency care, RCN Northern Ireland says that problems in emergency care ‘reflect broader and fundamental problems throughout the health and social care system’. The inquiry, which is examining if emergency care protects patients’ human rights, was launched amid concerns that EDs are struggling to cope with demand. RCN Northern Ireland deputy director Garrett Martin said: ‘Patients are not getting the service they deserve and nurses have to explain that it is outside their control.’ Public hearings will take place in Northern Ireland in September and October before a final report is published in April 2015. The HRC inquiry is seeking evidence from patients, relatives, staff and other interested parties. More information is available at
plan and used the additional capacity that we had freed up to put the families together.’ The families were put in an ‘escalation area’, a ward with flexible use that had been set for patients who needed surgery. Mr Rangué said that staff were ‘prepared for the worst’ but found they did not need the additional respiratory beds and warming equipment they had made available. ‘We are extremely proud of the response of our staff and the compassion they showed,’ added Mr Rangué. Press Association
Obituary
An ambulance arrives at Tilbury docks, Essex
www.nihrc.org/inquiry and the RCN evidence can be read at tinyurl.com/lwd4mom Health Minister Edwin Poots has told the BBC there is merit in charging fees to patients who end up in emergency care due to alcohol or drugs. He said: ‘The UK has a principle of health care free at point of need. It is a wonderful principle but on occasions it is abused, and we need to look at how we can make sure that abuse doesn’t take place.’ See opinion, page 12
Short records of patients’ healthcare needs set to spread across services SUMMARY CARE records (SCRs) to improve and speed up patient care are being introduced in emergency departments, NHS 111 and GP out-of-hours services. According to NHS England, the ‘milestone’ number of 40 million patients with SCRs has been reached and healthcare professionals are referring to them every 30 seconds. The electronic records contain patient information including allergies, medications and adverse reactions. EMERGENCY NURSE
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September 2014 | Volume 22 | Number 5
Major incident plan proves success in managing migrants STAFF FROM Basildon University Hospital deployed their major incident plan last month to care for families found in a shipping container at Tilbury, Essex. Port staff discovered 35 men, women and children from Afghanistan in a container that had arrived from Belgium. One man, Meet Singh Kapoor, was found to be dead. Eleven adults and seven children under the age of ten were taken to Basildon, where staff put their major incident plan into action and cleared the emergency department to deal with the patients. Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust associate director of quality and nursing Matt Rangué, who was nurse controller on the day, said: ‘The situation was different because we received families as opposed to individuals. So we changed our
Emergency nurses should not be blamed for delays in care NURSES IN Northern Ireland think that they are being scapegoated for delays in emergency departments (EDs), the RCN has warned. In written evidence to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s (HRC) public inquiry into emergency care, RCN Northern Ireland says that problems in emergency care ‘reflect broader and fundamental problems throughout the health and social care system’. The inquiry, which is examining if emergency care protects patients’ human rights, was launched amid concerns that EDs are struggling to cope with demand. RCN Northern Ireland deputy director Garrett Martin said: ‘Patients are not getting the service they deserve and nurses have to explain that it is outside their control.’ Public hearings will take place in Northern Ireland in September and October before a final report is published in April 2015. The HRC inquiry is seeking evidence from patients, relatives, staff and other interested parties. More information is available at
plan and used the additional capacity that we had freed up to put the families together.’ The families were put in an ‘escalation area’, a ward with flexible use that had been set for patients who needed surgery. Mr Rangué said that staff were ‘prepared for the worst’ but found they did not need the additional respiratory beds and warming equipment they had made available. ‘We are extremely proud of the response of our staff and the compassion they showed,’ added Mr Rangué. Press Association
Obituary
An ambulance arrives at Tilbury docks, Essex
www.nihrc.org/inquiry and the RCN evidence can be read at tinyurl.com/lwd4mom Health Minister Edwin Poots has told the BBC there is merit in charging fees to patients who end up in emergency care due to alcohol or drugs. He said: ‘The UK has a principle of health care free at point of need. It is a wonderful principle but on occasions it is abused, and we need to look at how we can make sure that abuse doesn’t take place.’ See opinion, page 12
Short records of patients’ healthcare needs set to spread across services SUMMARY CARE records (SCRs) to improve and speed up patient care are being introduced in emergency departments, NHS 111 and GP out-of-hours services. According to NHS England, the ‘milestone’ number of 40 million patients with SCRs has been reached and healthcare professionals are referring to them every 30 seconds. The electronic records contain patient information including allergies, medications and adverse reactions. EMERGENCY NURSE
Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 24, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
