PM calling for end of ‘stifling’ paperwork in the NHS

David Cameron will today outline the Government’s focus on improving quality in the NHS and the need to “reset” the approach to caring in this country during a visit to two hospitals.

He will say: “We know the vast majority of patients are very happy with the care provided by the NHS. I’ve seen the NHS at its very best – the incredible people for whom nursing is a true vocation, who go beyond the call of duty and combine great medical knowledge with great care.

“But I also know we’ve got a real problem in some of our hospitals with patients not getting the food and drink they need or being treated with the respect they deserve. The Care Quality Commission found one in five hospitals wanting. I am absolutely appalled by this. And we are going to put this right.

“If we want dignity and respect, we need to focus on nurses and the care they deliver.”

Mr Cameron will say it is the system that needs improving. “It’s not one problem in particular. It’s the stifling bureaucracy. The lack of consequence for failing to treat people with dignity. Even, at times – as we saw with Mid-Staffordshire – the pursuit of cost-cutting or management targets without sufficient regard for quality of care.

“Nursing needs to be about patients not paperwork. So we are going to get rid of a whole load of bureaucracy that stops nurses from doing what they do best.”

To ensure this happens Mr Cameron wants to see a ward sister, or matron taking the lead on wards in all hospitals.

The Government is introducing patient-led inspections of hospital wards to assess levels of cleanliness, dignity and nutrition.

It is also establishing the “friends and family test” which will ask whether patients, carers and staff would recommend their hospital to others, with hospital leaders who fail the test held to account.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) welcomes the proposals.

Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive and General Secretary of the RCN, said: “The profession will welcome the moves to free up nurses to put care first, and to focus all their energies on the needs of their patients. In particular, nurses themselves have emphasised the enormous burden of the paperwork they have to complete, day in and day out.

“Reducing this burden will be very widely welcomed, as will the commitment to empowering the ward sister. Ward sisters are experienced nurses who can provide expert leadership to the team – they need to be able to call the shots and supervise and develop the wider workforce.

“The improvements being put forward rely on having enough nurses to carry them out. We hope that employers locally will support the Prime Minister’s commitment and ensure that staff are supported in delivering care.”