They believe that by restricting the tests they perform to those patients within the hospital, this will ensure that patients in the hospital will get the appropriate care. We have already warned that there are not enough staff to run the shifts safely. But the hospital trust has ploughed on regardless. This dispute is about patient safety and work-life balance. It is coupled with a feeling that staff have been ignored when they have aired legitimate concerns. Debbie Watson, regional officer, Unite

SWAN LAUNCHES ACTION PLAN FOR BETTER MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES In response to the crisis in mental health services, the Social Work Action Network (Swan) has developed a charter for mental health. It describes the impact of cuts, the privatisation of services and the effect of the government’s austerity programme and welfare reforms on service users and practitioners. We argue for the need to build alliances of resistance to the cutbacks and to contribute to the development of improved support for people with mental health needs. We are calling for an end to the cuts in community based support and day services, and for increased staffing ratios. We are campaigning for services to be staffed with properly trained practitioners and for improved service user involvement. The charter does not aim to be a definitive statement, but rather a starting point for discussion and action, and a useful campaigning tool for those involved in mental health services. The three-page charter can be downloaded from the Swan website at www.socialworkfuture.org. Please email mentalhealthcharter@ gmail.com or contact us via the Swan website if you would like to endorse the charter or organise joint meetings, events or actions. Iain Ferguson, Social Work Action Network (Swan), by email

INCINERATOR HELPS OUT WHERE A CREMATORIUM CANNOT TREAD One thing I can say about Nursing Standard is that it is never dull. There is invariably something of interest in every issue and I learn a great deal from reading the magazine. I would never have known, for example, that crematoria cannot cremate human tissue or organs from a living person, as certification of death is required (Reflections April 16). Nursing student Pennie Rudd brings this nugget of information to our attention in her Starting Out column where she describes caring for a patient with diabetes who was due to have a leg amputated below the knee. A devout Catholic, the patient asked if his leg could be cremated after the amputation and kept to be reunited with the rest of his body on his death. Pennie undertook some research and discovered that a hospital’s waste management service can incinerate a limb and return the ashes to the patient. This is a heartwarming example of a nursing student showing great initiative and going above and beyond the call of duty to look after the holistic needs of her patients. Well done. Peter Cadle, London

BLACK AND MINORITY ETHNIC STAFF LOSE OUT DURING RESTRUCTURING It must be galling for Lord Nigel Crisp to hear that black and minority ethnic (BME) representation at the top levels of nursing has worsened in the past decade (News April 16). As NHS chief executive, he published a ten-point race equality action plan in 2004 and actively mentored a number of BME nurses at the Department of Health. Almost a fifth of the nursing workforce comes from a BME background and Lord Crisp has consistently argued that we are not getting the best out of them. It is ironic that whenever there is restructuring in the NHS, it tends to be senior BME nurses who disappear. Dawndra Greene, by email

TWEETS OF THE WEEK What’s happening to BME staff now is what happened to women in past decades. Arguably even harder. @rogerkline

It’s time the government stopped blaming NHS doctors and nurses for hospital infections and cleaned up its own act, says Dr Richard Taylor nhap.org/?p=7613 @NHAparty

@DiabetesUK Care Events are a great way of building confidence and skills to deal with your diabetes #CareEventsWeek @Brannanski

Blood clots can affect anyone so #askaboutclots today thndr.it/QfuOfQ @nhswalesawards

What is #mindfulness? Psychotherapist and counsellor Karin Sieger offers 2 simple exercises to try bcc.cx/1pcIN5A @BCCare

Following the success of our @gettoknowcancer campaign, we’re proud to be extending our support into next season bit.ly/1j5MmD3 @SpursOfficial

@BruceVH @nursemaiden ‘What medicine is administered by ear?’ ‘Words of comfort.’ Abraham Verghese, in his lovely novel, Cutting For Stone. @fjparrott

Follow Nursing Standard @NScomment and join the #NScomment chat on Thursdays at 12.30pm

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Swan launches action plan for better mental health services.

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