NEWS
Trusts must explain how they will protect patients from sexual attacks @alistairbauer
NHS trusts in England have been ordered to draw up action plans within three months setting out how they will ensure patients are protected from potential sexual predators. The move follows a report into the activities of the late DJ Jimmy Savile, who abused young people in hospitals and other care settings for decades. The report’s authors recommended that celebrities visiting hospitals be accompanied at all times, and that staff be trained in safeguarding, to prevent sexual predators like Savile committing abuse in the NHS again. Former barrister Kate Lampard was invited by health secretary Jeremy Hunt to look at NHS-wide procedures in light of investigations into Savile’s activities at Leeds General Infirmary, Broadmoor and Stoke Mandeville hospitals. Her report was published along with the findings of an investigation into Savile’s abuse of 63 people, including patients and staff, at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire between 1968 and 1992. The Stoke Mandeville report, written by Androulla Johnstone with Christine Dent of the Health and Social Care Advisory Service, states that between 1972 and 1985 nine
REUTERS
By Alistair Kleebauer
All NHS staff should feel able to escalate concerns, said Kate Lampard
informal verbal reports were made about Savile’s abuse by those he abused at Stoke Mandeville. ‘It would appear that the nursing cohort in each of the different departments just managed Savile and staff concerns in their own way,’ said Dr Johnstone. ‘From what we can see, they did not escalate it.’ Savile’s abuse of patients ranged from inappropriate touching to rape. Ms Lampard’s report, co-authored by Ed Marsden, says all NHS trusts should ensure staff and volunteers undergo refresher training in safeguarding at least every three years.
NHS organisations still face a challenge in encouraging staff to feel empowered to raise concerns, according to the report. It states: ‘People do not feel comfortable challenging those they see as in positions of authority and hierarchies within hospitals are a barrier to staff raising concerns.’ The report makes recommendations on improving the management of volunteer schemes in the NHS and says there is a need for all NHS hospitals to have robust policies for managing visits by celebrities, including the need for them to be accompanied at all times.
STRIKE CALLED OFF AS MIDWIVES ACCEPT PAY OFFER Midwives in England have accepted a 1 per cent pay rise for 2015/16, ending a long-running dispute with the government. Some 93.9 per cent of Royal College of Midwives members who voted were in favour of accepting the deal offered by the government last month, just days before a planned 12-hour strike. The RCM staged strikes – the first in its 133-year history – at the end of
last year, alongside unions including Unison and Unite. The industrial action, which involved staff taking all breaks, followed a refusal by health secretary Jeremy Hunt to honour the recommendation of the NHS Independent Pay Review Body that all staff on Agenda for Change terms be given a 1 per cent rise in 2014/15. RCM chief executive Cathy Warwick said: ‘I am pleased that RCM
members voted in favour of accepting the offer. This is the best that could be achieved by negotiations and we achieved significant improvements following our campaign and industrial action and in the negotiations. ‘Even during our industrial action midwives have maintained safety for women,’ added Ms Warwick. ‘They deserve to be valued by the government and employers.’
NURSING march :: voluses 29without no 27 ::permission. 2015 9 DownloadedSTANDARD from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 14, 2015. For personal use only. No4other Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
Trusts must explain how they will protect patients from sexual attacks @alistairbauer
NHS trusts in England have been ordered to draw up action plans within three months setting out how they will ensure patients are protected from potential sexual predators. The move follows a report into the activities of the late DJ Jimmy Savile, who abused young people in hospitals and other care settings for decades. The report’s authors recommended that celebrities visiting hospitals be accompanied at all times, and that staff be trained in safeguarding, to prevent sexual predators like Savile committing abuse in the NHS again. Former barrister Kate Lampard was invited by health secretary Jeremy Hunt to look at NHS-wide procedures in light of investigations into Savile’s activities at Leeds General Infirmary, Broadmoor and Stoke Mandeville hospitals. Her report was published along with the findings of an investigation into Savile’s abuse of 63 people, including patients and staff, at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire between 1968 and 1992. The Stoke Mandeville report, written by Androulla Johnstone with Christine Dent of the Health and Social Care Advisory Service, states that between 1972 and 1985 nine
REUTERS
By Alistair Kleebauer
All NHS staff should feel able to escalate concerns, said Kate Lampard
informal verbal reports were made about Savile’s abuse by those he abused at Stoke Mandeville. ‘It would appear that the nursing cohort in each of the different departments just managed Savile and staff concerns in their own way,’ said Dr Johnstone. ‘From what we can see, they did not escalate it.’ Savile’s abuse of patients ranged from inappropriate touching to rape. Ms Lampard’s report, co-authored by Ed Marsden, says all NHS trusts should ensure staff and volunteers undergo refresher training in safeguarding at least every three years.
NHS organisations still face a challenge in encouraging staff to feel empowered to raise concerns, according to the report. It states: ‘People do not feel comfortable challenging those they see as in positions of authority and hierarchies within hospitals are a barrier to staff raising concerns.’ The report makes recommendations on improving the management of volunteer schemes in the NHS and says there is a need for all NHS hospitals to have robust policies for managing visits by celebrities, including the need for them to be accompanied at all times.
STRIKE CALLED OFF AS MIDWIVES ACCEPT PAY OFFER Midwives in England have accepted a 1 per cent pay rise for 2015/16, ending a long-running dispute with the government. Some 93.9 per cent of Royal College of Midwives members who voted were in favour of accepting the deal offered by the government last month, just days before a planned 12-hour strike. The RCM staged strikes – the first in its 133-year history – at the end of
last year, alongside unions including Unison and Unite. The industrial action, which involved staff taking all breaks, followed a refusal by health secretary Jeremy Hunt to honour the recommendation of the NHS Independent Pay Review Body that all staff on Agenda for Change terms be given a 1 per cent rise in 2014/15. RCM chief executive Cathy Warwick said: ‘I am pleased that RCM
members voted in favour of accepting the offer. This is the best that could be achieved by negotiations and we achieved significant improvements following our campaign and industrial action and in the negotiations. ‘Even during our industrial action midwives have maintained safety for women,’ added Ms Warwick. ‘They deserve to be valued by the government and employers.’
NURSING march :: voluses 29without no 27 ::permission. 2015 9 DownloadedSTANDARD from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 14, 2015. For personal use only. No4other Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
