NEWS
Nurses feel ‘impotent, alone and unheard’, whistleblower tells NHS The nurse whistleblower who helped expose the Mid Staffs scandal has warned front line staff were still being ignored when trying to raise concerns about poor care, and that major problems remain in the NHS. Helene Donnelly was addressing some of the UK’s most senior healthcare figures at last week’s NHS Confederation annual conference in Liverpool. She told the audience that many nurses who know there are problems feel ‘impotent, alone and unheard’. ‘I am being contacted by nurses and doctors from all around the country, who are worried and concerned that no action is being taken,’ she said. ‘This is about preventing rather than creating problems, being proactive rather than reactive to bad care. ‘We want to avoid staff getting to a point where they need to whistleblow.’
which announced this month it will create a dedicated ambassador post modelled on Ms Donnelly’s role. She told the conference: ‘I believe if there was an ambassador of culture change in every organisation, the situation would change. ‘This is about NHS staff – we will not have an NHS if we do not listen to them.’ Mr Hunt, who also spoke at the conference, agreed there was still more to do to help staff speak out about poor care.
He said that each year the NHS paid £1.3 billion in litigation claims, and £800 million a year on adverse events cases. ‘We have come a long way but there is much further to go,’ the secretary of state told delegates. ‘We have to make it easier for doctors and nurses and front line staff to speak out when there are concerns. We have to adopt a culture of listening to staff, a culture of openness and transparency.’ GETTY IMAGES
By Katie Osborne
Direct line
Ms Donnelly raised concerns about the way patients were treated and how senior nurses bullied staff to falsify data while she worked as an emergency nurse at Stafford Hospital between 2004 and 2008. She now works at a walk-in centre and in 2013 was appointed ambassador for cultural change by her employer, Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Partnership NHS Trust. In this role she helps staff raise concerns and has a direct line to trust chief executive Stuart Poynor. Ms Donnelly was awarded an OBE for services to the NHS in January, and in April she was appointed a national adviser on raising concerns by health secretary Jeremy Hunt. But the nurse urged all NHS organisations to follow the lead of Birmingham Children’s Hospital,
NURSING STANDARD
A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE FOR D-DAY SISTER One of the first British nurses to land in Normandy after D-Day returned to France with fellow veterans to mark the 70th anniversary of the operation. Vera Hay, who had trained at Hammersmith Hospital in London, was a junior sister in the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps when she made the treacherous journey to Gold Beach after the allied invasion on June 6, 1944. The allies sustained an estimated 10,000 casualties, including 2,500
fatalities. Ms Hay later treated wounded soldiers in nearby Bayeux. Nurses quickly had to learn to use the new drug penicillin to treat the wounded. In 2009, France awarded Ms Hay membership of the Légion d’honneur in recognition of her work. Ms Hay (pictured with United States veteran and fellow Légion d’honneur recipient Jack Appel) visited the D-Day Museum in Portsmouth before taking the ferry to France to take part in the commemorations. june 11 :: vol 28 no 41 :: 2014 9
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Nurses feel ‘impotent, alone and unheard’, whistleblower tells NHS The nurse whistleblower who helped expose the Mid Staffs scandal has warned front line staff were still being ignored when trying to raise concerns about poor care, and that major problems remain in the NHS. Helene Donnelly was addressing some of the UK’s most senior healthcare figures at last week’s NHS Confederation annual conference in Liverpool. She told the audience that many nurses who know there are problems feel ‘impotent, alone and unheard’. ‘I am being contacted by nurses and doctors from all around the country, who are worried and concerned that no action is being taken,’ she said. ‘This is about preventing rather than creating problems, being proactive rather than reactive to bad care. ‘We want to avoid staff getting to a point where they need to whistleblow.’
which announced this month it will create a dedicated ambassador post modelled on Ms Donnelly’s role. She told the conference: ‘I believe if there was an ambassador of culture change in every organisation, the situation would change. ‘This is about NHS staff – we will not have an NHS if we do not listen to them.’ Mr Hunt, who also spoke at the conference, agreed there was still more to do to help staff speak out about poor care.
He said that each year the NHS paid £1.3 billion in litigation claims, and £800 million a year on adverse events cases. ‘We have come a long way but there is much further to go,’ the secretary of state told delegates. ‘We have to make it easier for doctors and nurses and front line staff to speak out when there are concerns. We have to adopt a culture of listening to staff, a culture of openness and transparency.’ GETTY IMAGES
By Katie Osborne
Direct line
Ms Donnelly raised concerns about the way patients were treated and how senior nurses bullied staff to falsify data while she worked as an emergency nurse at Stafford Hospital between 2004 and 2008. She now works at a walk-in centre and in 2013 was appointed ambassador for cultural change by her employer, Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Partnership NHS Trust. In this role she helps staff raise concerns and has a direct line to trust chief executive Stuart Poynor. Ms Donnelly was awarded an OBE for services to the NHS in January, and in April she was appointed a national adviser on raising concerns by health secretary Jeremy Hunt. But the nurse urged all NHS organisations to follow the lead of Birmingham Children’s Hospital,
NURSING STANDARD
A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE FOR D-DAY SISTER One of the first British nurses to land in Normandy after D-Day returned to France with fellow veterans to mark the 70th anniversary of the operation. Vera Hay, who had trained at Hammersmith Hospital in London, was a junior sister in the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps when she made the treacherous journey to Gold Beach after the allied invasion on June 6, 1944. The allies sustained an estimated 10,000 casualties, including 2,500
fatalities. Ms Hay later treated wounded soldiers in nearby Bayeux. Nurses quickly had to learn to use the new drug penicillin to treat the wounded. In 2009, France awarded Ms Hay membership of the Légion d’honneur in recognition of her work. Ms Hay (pictured with United States veteran and fellow Légion d’honneur recipient Jack Appel) visited the D-Day Museum in Portsmouth before taking the ferry to France to take part in the commemorations. june 11 :: vol 28 no 41 :: 2014 9
Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 22, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
