NEWS
Nurse managers told that raising concerns should be mandatory By Sally Gillen and Jennifer Sprinks Nurses and doctors who do not raise any concerns about care should be expected to explain why during their annual appraisal, the president of the Royal College of Physicians has said. That would encourage staff to report concerns as a matter of course, said Richard Thompson at a conference in London last week to mark the first anniversary of the Francis report. ‘Raising concerns should be embedded in the annual appraisal for doctors and nurses and it should be mandatory,’ Mr Thompson told the audience of nurse managers. ‘Instead of saying to staff “you need to raise concerns”, you would instead say “why have you not raised concerns – you must have noticed something wrong? Next year, I want you to raise a concern”,’ he suggested. Speaking to Nursing Standard about whistleblowing and transparency, England’s chief nursing officer Jane Cummings said: ‘We need to support staff through culture change and help people through the process to make speaking out easier. We are not there yet.’
However, she added that people are finding it easier to voice concerns and welcomed the fact that some organisations are appointing ambassadors for cultural change, similar to the role being undertaken by nurse Helene Donnelly, who blew the whistle on poor care, at Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Partnership NHS Trust. Meanwhile, the progress made by England’s NHS organisations in dealing with concerns raised by staff will be reviewed by MPs.
STAFF SHOULD BE ASKED ‘WHY HAVE YOU NOT RAISED CONCERNS – YOU MUST HAVE NOTICED SOMETHING WRONG’ The Commons health committee will consider how these concerns, and complaints made by patients and their families, have been handled in both primary and secondary care. A call for written evidence to inform the review was issued last week. The committee, chaired by Conservative MP Stephen Dorrell,
will examine the outcomes that result from patients’ complaints and look at how the employment prospects of staff members are affected after they have raised concerns. It will consider whether the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, designed to protect employees who raise concerns in the workplace, is fit for purpose. The Commons health committee will also examine whether the findings of recent national reports, including the Francis inquiry into failings at Stafford Hospital and the review led by Labour MP Ann Clwyd into patient complaints, have improved the NHS complaints process. Mr Dorrell told Nursing Standard: ‘I am not yet persuaded that we have moved as far as we need to in response to the challenges identified in the Francis report. That is partly why we need this review. ‘Culture change is about professional culture and the way organisations handle complaints and support whistleblowers.’ For more information go to tinyurl.com/commonsraisingconcerns See analysis page 14
Nurse appraisals happen infrequently or not at all, according to Care Quality Commission inspectors. The regulator’s national professional adviser Nick Bishop told a conference of nurse managers that CQC regulations require employers to carry out regular appraisals of all staff. The discussion followed a speech by Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) chief executive Jackie Smith about revalidation, which relies heavily on staff appraisals. Under new-style inspections introduced by the CQC at the end of last
year, inspectors now ask for evidence that staff appraisals have been completed. ‘We are already finding poor frequency or absence for nurses,’ he said. Ms Smith said she was ‘very keen’ to learn from the General Medical Council’s experience of introducing revalidation. However, concerns have been voiced about the high number of nurses who do not receive an appraisal. Mr Bishop said that only about half of doctors have had an appraisal in the past year. ‘This is something the NMC could learn from – it should not be that difficult.’
NATHAN CLARKE
APPRAISALS HAPPEN RARELY OR NEVER
The NMC’s Jackie Smith addresses the conference
NURSING STANDARD february 12 :: vol 28 no 24 :: 2014 9 Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 23, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
Nurse managers told that raising concerns should be mandatory By Sally Gillen and Jennifer Sprinks Nurses and doctors who do not raise any concerns about care should be expected to explain why during their annual appraisal, the president of the Royal College of Physicians has said. That would encourage staff to report concerns as a matter of course, said Richard Thompson at a conference in London last week to mark the first anniversary of the Francis report. ‘Raising concerns should be embedded in the annual appraisal for doctors and nurses and it should be mandatory,’ Mr Thompson told the audience of nurse managers. ‘Instead of saying to staff “you need to raise concerns”, you would instead say “why have you not raised concerns – you must have noticed something wrong? Next year, I want you to raise a concern”,’ he suggested. Speaking to Nursing Standard about whistleblowing and transparency, England’s chief nursing officer Jane Cummings said: ‘We need to support staff through culture change and help people through the process to make speaking out easier. We are not there yet.’
However, she added that people are finding it easier to voice concerns and welcomed the fact that some organisations are appointing ambassadors for cultural change, similar to the role being undertaken by nurse Helene Donnelly, who blew the whistle on poor care, at Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Partnership NHS Trust. Meanwhile, the progress made by England’s NHS organisations in dealing with concerns raised by staff will be reviewed by MPs.
STAFF SHOULD BE ASKED ‘WHY HAVE YOU NOT RAISED CONCERNS – YOU MUST HAVE NOTICED SOMETHING WRONG’ The Commons health committee will consider how these concerns, and complaints made by patients and their families, have been handled in both primary and secondary care. A call for written evidence to inform the review was issued last week. The committee, chaired by Conservative MP Stephen Dorrell,
will examine the outcomes that result from patients’ complaints and look at how the employment prospects of staff members are affected after they have raised concerns. It will consider whether the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, designed to protect employees who raise concerns in the workplace, is fit for purpose. The Commons health committee will also examine whether the findings of recent national reports, including the Francis inquiry into failings at Stafford Hospital and the review led by Labour MP Ann Clwyd into patient complaints, have improved the NHS complaints process. Mr Dorrell told Nursing Standard: ‘I am not yet persuaded that we have moved as far as we need to in response to the challenges identified in the Francis report. That is partly why we need this review. ‘Culture change is about professional culture and the way organisations handle complaints and support whistleblowers.’ For more information go to tinyurl.com/commonsraisingconcerns See analysis page 14
Nurse appraisals happen infrequently or not at all, according to Care Quality Commission inspectors. The regulator’s national professional adviser Nick Bishop told a conference of nurse managers that CQC regulations require employers to carry out regular appraisals of all staff. The discussion followed a speech by Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) chief executive Jackie Smith about revalidation, which relies heavily on staff appraisals. Under new-style inspections introduced by the CQC at the end of last
year, inspectors now ask for evidence that staff appraisals have been completed. ‘We are already finding poor frequency or absence for nurses,’ he said. Ms Smith said she was ‘very keen’ to learn from the General Medical Council’s experience of introducing revalidation. However, concerns have been voiced about the high number of nurses who do not receive an appraisal. Mr Bishop said that only about half of doctors have had an appraisal in the past year. ‘This is something the NMC could learn from – it should not be that difficult.’
NATHAN CLARKE
APPRAISALS HAPPEN RARELY OR NEVER
The NMC’s Jackie Smith addresses the conference
NURSING STANDARD february 12 :: vol 28 no 24 :: 2014 9 Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 23, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
