Letters
Send your views by email to [email protected], post on the Nursing Standard Facebook page or visit www.nursing-standard.co.uk
Please keep letters to a maximum of 200 words, and include your full name and a daytime telephone number. Letters may be edited
Policies will only increase pressure on nurses and GPs, not improve care I find it hard to believe that the new Conservative government is pushing ahead with plans to introduce a seven-day NHS by 2020 (News, May 13). Have they not noticed that this already exists, with consultant cover? Looking at the data, it is not actually the case that more people die at the weekend in hospitals, but that more people admitted via A&E at the weekend die. This is most likely because these people are admitted as an emergency, and are therefore generally much sicker. We are struggling to afford our current service, so it is hard to imagine how we can afford more staff at the weekend without cutting unsocial hours payments. As RCN chief executive Peter Carter and Unite communications officer Mark Boothroyd point out, this would in effect be a further pay cut for already overstretched staff. The Conservative Party election manifesto promised patients will be able to have a named GP. What if your named GP is off or on holiday? You may never see him or her, or you might prefer to see someone else. This is just another meaningless proposal that will not improve patient care, but will add to the workload of equally overstretched GPs. How will these changes be funded, and what will the skill mix be? To really improve care for patients, we must get this right. Karen Chilver, community palliative care clinical nurse specialist, London
FAR FROM A ‘FALLBACK’ JOB OPTION, CARE HOME NURSING IS A PRIVILEGE How sad to read that care home nursing is seen as ‘something people do when they cannot get a job elsewhere’ (News, April 29). I chose care home nursing straight out of university. I love working with older people and it is a privilege to be part of their
twilight years. I am passionate about building a rapport with residents and their families. As a care home is not an acute setting, it is more about providing fundamental nursing care, and understanding the person, while delivering the best possible holistic care. It is an area of nursing where the 6Cs are demonstrated to the maximum. As healthcare professionals, we are all tiny cogs in the big care wheel. All nurses can learn from each other, regardless of their chosen field. Marie Rowe, via email
OUR EBOLA TEAMS IN SIERRA LEONE ARE UP THERE WITH THE BRAVEST I recently had the privilege of attending a symposium at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, organised by the director of army nursing services Colonel David Bates. The understated professionalism of those who had been deployed to Sierra Leone to help with the Ebola
outbreak was evident as they gave their presentations. Nurses, healthcare assistants, doctors and others who were professional, brave (although they would not say so) and utterly dedicated to the task. A true credit to our services. The image of a junior healthcare assistant teaching a consultant how to put on personal protective equipment was striking, and shows the value of a subject matter expert in this high-risk endeavour. And high risk it certainly is. Much has rightly been made of the bravery of the service personnel who tackle roadside and improvised bombs, and they have justifiably received the highest awards for gallantry. But our high-risk operators tackling Ebola have shown themselves to be up there with the bravest, and deserve equal recognition. Superbly led, hugely professional and utterly dedicated – a grateful nation should show its appreciation. Professor Kevin Davies, via email
32 may 27 :: volfrom 29 no 39 :: 2015 STANDARD Downloaded RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 29, 2015. For personal use only. NoNURSING other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
Send your views by email to [email protected], post on the Nursing Standard Facebook page or visit www.nursing-standard.co.uk
Please keep letters to a maximum of 200 words, and include your full name and a daytime telephone number. Letters may be edited
Policies will only increase pressure on nurses and GPs, not improve care I find it hard to believe that the new Conservative government is pushing ahead with plans to introduce a seven-day NHS by 2020 (News, May 13). Have they not noticed that this already exists, with consultant cover? Looking at the data, it is not actually the case that more people die at the weekend in hospitals, but that more people admitted via A&E at the weekend die. This is most likely because these people are admitted as an emergency, and are therefore generally much sicker. We are struggling to afford our current service, so it is hard to imagine how we can afford more staff at the weekend without cutting unsocial hours payments. As RCN chief executive Peter Carter and Unite communications officer Mark Boothroyd point out, this would in effect be a further pay cut for already overstretched staff. The Conservative Party election manifesto promised patients will be able to have a named GP. What if your named GP is off or on holiday? You may never see him or her, or you might prefer to see someone else. This is just another meaningless proposal that will not improve patient care, but will add to the workload of equally overstretched GPs. How will these changes be funded, and what will the skill mix be? To really improve care for patients, we must get this right. Karen Chilver, community palliative care clinical nurse specialist, London
FAR FROM A ‘FALLBACK’ JOB OPTION, CARE HOME NURSING IS A PRIVILEGE How sad to read that care home nursing is seen as ‘something people do when they cannot get a job elsewhere’ (News, April 29). I chose care home nursing straight out of university. I love working with older people and it is a privilege to be part of their
twilight years. I am passionate about building a rapport with residents and their families. As a care home is not an acute setting, it is more about providing fundamental nursing care, and understanding the person, while delivering the best possible holistic care. It is an area of nursing where the 6Cs are demonstrated to the maximum. As healthcare professionals, we are all tiny cogs in the big care wheel. All nurses can learn from each other, regardless of their chosen field. Marie Rowe, via email
OUR EBOLA TEAMS IN SIERRA LEONE ARE UP THERE WITH THE BRAVEST I recently had the privilege of attending a symposium at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, organised by the director of army nursing services Colonel David Bates. The understated professionalism of those who had been deployed to Sierra Leone to help with the Ebola
outbreak was evident as they gave their presentations. Nurses, healthcare assistants, doctors and others who were professional, brave (although they would not say so) and utterly dedicated to the task. A true credit to our services. The image of a junior healthcare assistant teaching a consultant how to put on personal protective equipment was striking, and shows the value of a subject matter expert in this high-risk endeavour. And high risk it certainly is. Much has rightly been made of the bravery of the service personnel who tackle roadside and improvised bombs, and they have justifiably received the highest awards for gallantry. But our high-risk operators tackling Ebola have shown themselves to be up there with the bravest, and deserve equal recognition. Superbly led, hugely professional and utterly dedicated – a grateful nation should show its appreciation. Professor Kevin Davies, via email
32 may 27 :: volfrom 29 no 39 :: 2015 STANDARD Downloaded RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 29, 2015. For personal use only. NoNURSING other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
