Opinion
Letter Leeds cardiac care article reported review findings out of context AS THE DIRECTOR of a charity that supports patients with congenital heart defects in Yorkshire and the Humber and their families, I am disappointed with the analysis article published in the April issue of Nursing Children and Young People, commenting on the release of the second stage of the urgent review into services at the Leeds children’s heart surgery unit (‘Review judges Leeds cardiac care safe, but raises concerns’, pages 8-9). What is regretful is that the article provides a distorted account of the review’s findings, neglecting to put the report (NHS England 2014) in context and failing to provide a balanced picture. It also does not indicate how the unit has acted since the review was conducted. First, it is important to distinguish between two elements of the report. The Mortality Review found the unit to be ‘safe and running well’ because it meets with expected safety and quality standards and is not an outlier in terms of its mortality rates. The report also said that many of the recommendations made for Leeds
could be applied more widely across other children’s cardiac units. Second, the Family Experience Report looked into concerns raised by 16 families. We regret, of course, any cause that families should have for genuine complaint, and it is right that these should always lead to examination about whether services could be improved further. Yet no opportunity was given for the unit to respond to the complaints and there was no detailed investigation of them in the Family Experience Report. Also, there was no attempt to set these experiences against the context of more than 40,000 patient cases and 1,500 surgical procedures that have been carried out over the time span of these complaints. Leeds’s success rates in this specialty stand at 98%, an incredible statistic for a unit dealing with complex cases. We would be surprised if any other of the children’s heart units were able to better this. While the article provides quotes from Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s
chief executive Julian Hartley, it fails to cite the official statement from the trust, which contains details of how it has acted in response to the complaints. This has included a full review of how feedback and concerns are handled in the trust and training for staff investigating concerns. No other children’s heart surgery unit has been subject to anything like the same level of scrutiny as Leeds, despite reports of failings elsewhere. The patients and families we represent, who have consistently demonstrated their full confidence in the unit – as can be seen from the comments on our Facebook page – now want the excellent staff team at Leeds, led by a world-class surgeon, to be allowed to carry on their work without being undermined by unbalanced reporting. Sharon Cheng, director, Children’s Heart Surgery Fund, Leeds Reference NHS England (2014) Leeds Children’s Heart Surgery Services Review. tinyurl.com/leeds-review-2014
What’s your view? If you want to express your opinions on any of the issues in Nursing Children and Young People, email the editor at [email protected]
Student voice
Making mistakes is part of the learning process WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES. Unfortunately, we have to make mistakes to learn from them. As Dracula author Bram Stoker wrote: ‘We learn from failure, not from success.’ Now that I am independent in my nursing practice, I am terrified that I will make a mistake or forget something important. I have so much more responsibility as an intern nurse than I did when I was a student. I am accountable for the actions that I take and the decisions that I make. However, I know that I am never on my own. There are many members of the healthcare team who are available to give me guidance, help and support during my internship placement. A second opinion is NURSING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
valuable, particularly when you are unsure about something or when you are concerned about a particular patient. It is okay to ask for help because, if you do not, you risk making big mistakes as a nurse. And, on the one hand, I realise that it is not safe for nurses to work solely at an independent level and it is true that the best nurses ask for help and give help to other nurses, if it is needed. On the other hand, I know that I cannot rely too much on other healthcare staff. The real challenge for me at this point is to find a balance between carrying out nursing tasks at an independent level and seeking support from other healthcare staff.
I am aware of the potential to make mistakes in my nursing practice and I also know that I should accept that it is all part of the learning process. In the event that a mistake is made, it is important to acknowledge it, get help if necessary, reflect on the error that was made and take the necessary actions to ensure that nothing similar ever happens again. I am also aware of my scope of practice and I am conscious not to work beyond it. Lisa Kirwan is in the fourth year of a children’s and general integrated BSc nursing degree at Trinity College Dublin and is now undertaking a hospital internship June 2014 | Volume 26 | Number 5 15
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Letter Leeds cardiac care article reported review findings out of context AS THE DIRECTOR of a charity that supports patients with congenital heart defects in Yorkshire and the Humber and their families, I am disappointed with the analysis article published in the April issue of Nursing Children and Young People, commenting on the release of the second stage of the urgent review into services at the Leeds children’s heart surgery unit (‘Review judges Leeds cardiac care safe, but raises concerns’, pages 8-9). What is regretful is that the article provides a distorted account of the review’s findings, neglecting to put the report (NHS England 2014) in context and failing to provide a balanced picture. It also does not indicate how the unit has acted since the review was conducted. First, it is important to distinguish between two elements of the report. The Mortality Review found the unit to be ‘safe and running well’ because it meets with expected safety and quality standards and is not an outlier in terms of its mortality rates. The report also said that many of the recommendations made for Leeds
could be applied more widely across other children’s cardiac units. Second, the Family Experience Report looked into concerns raised by 16 families. We regret, of course, any cause that families should have for genuine complaint, and it is right that these should always lead to examination about whether services could be improved further. Yet no opportunity was given for the unit to respond to the complaints and there was no detailed investigation of them in the Family Experience Report. Also, there was no attempt to set these experiences against the context of more than 40,000 patient cases and 1,500 surgical procedures that have been carried out over the time span of these complaints. Leeds’s success rates in this specialty stand at 98%, an incredible statistic for a unit dealing with complex cases. We would be surprised if any other of the children’s heart units were able to better this. While the article provides quotes from Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s
chief executive Julian Hartley, it fails to cite the official statement from the trust, which contains details of how it has acted in response to the complaints. This has included a full review of how feedback and concerns are handled in the trust and training for staff investigating concerns. No other children’s heart surgery unit has been subject to anything like the same level of scrutiny as Leeds, despite reports of failings elsewhere. The patients and families we represent, who have consistently demonstrated their full confidence in the unit – as can be seen from the comments on our Facebook page – now want the excellent staff team at Leeds, led by a world-class surgeon, to be allowed to carry on their work without being undermined by unbalanced reporting. Sharon Cheng, director, Children’s Heart Surgery Fund, Leeds Reference NHS England (2014) Leeds Children’s Heart Surgery Services Review. tinyurl.com/leeds-review-2014
What’s your view? If you want to express your opinions on any of the issues in Nursing Children and Young People, email the editor at [email protected]
Student voice
Making mistakes is part of the learning process WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES. Unfortunately, we have to make mistakes to learn from them. As Dracula author Bram Stoker wrote: ‘We learn from failure, not from success.’ Now that I am independent in my nursing practice, I am terrified that I will make a mistake or forget something important. I have so much more responsibility as an intern nurse than I did when I was a student. I am accountable for the actions that I take and the decisions that I make. However, I know that I am never on my own. There are many members of the healthcare team who are available to give me guidance, help and support during my internship placement. A second opinion is NURSING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
valuable, particularly when you are unsure about something or when you are concerned about a particular patient. It is okay to ask for help because, if you do not, you risk making big mistakes as a nurse. And, on the one hand, I realise that it is not safe for nurses to work solely at an independent level and it is true that the best nurses ask for help and give help to other nurses, if it is needed. On the other hand, I know that I cannot rely too much on other healthcare staff. The real challenge for me at this point is to find a balance between carrying out nursing tasks at an independent level and seeking support from other healthcare staff.
I am aware of the potential to make mistakes in my nursing practice and I also know that I should accept that it is all part of the learning process. In the event that a mistake is made, it is important to acknowledge it, get help if necessary, reflect on the error that was made and take the necessary actions to ensure that nothing similar ever happens again. I am also aware of my scope of practice and I am conscious not to work beyond it. Lisa Kirwan is in the fourth year of a children’s and general integrated BSc nursing degree at Trinity College Dublin and is now undertaking a hospital internship June 2014 | Volume 26 | Number 5 15
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.
