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Personal rates from £76.80 a year. Telephone 0345 772 6100 Institutional rates from £675 a year. Send all enquiries to [email protected] Visit www.nursing-standard.co.uk for details. CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS
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Editorial Graham Scott EDITOR
Are nurses any closer to blowing the whistle? Raising concerns at work is easier said than done. Healthcare professionals are under increasing pressure to speak out when they witness poor care or inappropriate behaviour by colleagues, but blowing the whistle in such circumstances is rarely straightforward. In too many NHS and independent sector organisations, staff operate in a soul-destroying environment in which they cannot disagree with their managers, let alone speak out to third parties. The prevailing culture of blame leaves even senior nursing and medical staff in fear of being victimised, sidelined or even dismissed.
EVEN SENIOR NURSING STAFF FEAR BEING VICTIMISED, SIDELINED OR DISMISSED
Richard Thompson, president of the Royal College of Physicians, says this situation has gone on long enough. Speaking at a conference last week, held to mark the first anniversary of the Francis Report, he said that nurses and doctors who do not raise concerns should be asked why during their appraisals. Mr Thompson reckons such a system would encourage clinicians to speak out as a matter of course. This might be possible in a healthy working environment where there is mutual respect between senior management and their professional staff, but too often there is a lack of trust. No one will raise concerns if they do not trust those who receive the information to respond positively. And those who seek to shed light on wrongdoing perceive a risk that their careers will be brought to a premature end. In some high-profile cases that risk has become reality. The best organisations empower their staff to feel they can have a dissenting voice, as long as it is constructive. Yet even those at director level in the health service report feeling disempowered. After analysing what went wrong at Stafford Hospital, Robert Francis said doctors and nurses should have a ‘duty of candour’, or professional obligation, to blow the whistle when care standards slip to unacceptable levels. Twelve months later, is the NHS any nearer to achieving the culture that would make this possible? See news page 9 Air your views on
Nursing Standard and
@NScomment
Have your say by joining our weekly Twitter debate. Every Thursday from 12.30 to 1.30 use #NScomment and share your views with other nurses on a hot topic of the day february 12 :: vol 28 no 24 :: 2014 3
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Personal rates from £76.80 a year. Telephone 0345 772 6100 Institutional rates from £675 a year. Send all enquiries to [email protected] Visit www.nursing-standard.co.uk for details. CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS
The Heights, 59-65 Lowlands Road, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex HA1 3AW Tel: +44 (0)20 8423 1333 Fax: +44 (0)20 8872 3197 ISSN 0029-6570 Email: [email protected] You can email staff at Nursing Standard in the following way: (first name).(second name)@rcnpublishing.co.uk Nursing Standard is published every Wednesday by RCN Publishing Company Ltd, the publishing company of the Royal College of Nursing. It seeks to promote professional excellence, and encourage creativity and innovation in nursing, midwifery and health visiting practice. Nursing Standard also aims to enhance nurses’ and healthcare assistants’ career development and to help them achieve and maintain a healthy and rewarding working environment. Nursing Standard is editorially independent and the opinions expressed are not those of the RCN or of the contributor’s employing organisation unless specifically stated. Acceptance of an advertisement does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement of a product or service, either by the RCN or RCN Publishing.
Editorial Graham Scott EDITOR
Are nurses any closer to blowing the whistle? Raising concerns at work is easier said than done. Healthcare professionals are under increasing pressure to speak out when they witness poor care or inappropriate behaviour by colleagues, but blowing the whistle in such circumstances is rarely straightforward. In too many NHS and independent sector organisations, staff operate in a soul-destroying environment in which they cannot disagree with their managers, let alone speak out to third parties. The prevailing culture of blame leaves even senior nursing and medical staff in fear of being victimised, sidelined or even dismissed.
EVEN SENIOR NURSING STAFF FEAR BEING VICTIMISED, SIDELINED OR DISMISSED
Richard Thompson, president of the Royal College of Physicians, says this situation has gone on long enough. Speaking at a conference last week, held to mark the first anniversary of the Francis Report, he said that nurses and doctors who do not raise concerns should be asked why during their appraisals. Mr Thompson reckons such a system would encourage clinicians to speak out as a matter of course. This might be possible in a healthy working environment where there is mutual respect between senior management and their professional staff, but too often there is a lack of trust. No one will raise concerns if they do not trust those who receive the information to respond positively. And those who seek to shed light on wrongdoing perceive a risk that their careers will be brought to a premature end. In some high-profile cases that risk has become reality. The best organisations empower their staff to feel they can have a dissenting voice, as long as it is constructive. Yet even those at director level in the health service report feeling disempowered. After analysing what went wrong at Stafford Hospital, Robert Francis said doctors and nurses should have a ‘duty of candour’, or professional obligation, to blow the whistle when care standards slip to unacceptable levels. Twelve months later, is the NHS any nearer to achieving the culture that would make this possible? See news page 9 Air your views on
Nursing Standard and
@NScomment
Have your say by joining our weekly Twitter debate. Every Thursday from 12.30 to 1.30 use #NScomment and share your views with other nurses on a hot topic of the day february 12 :: vol 28 no 24 :: 2014 3
Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 12, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
