Concentrate on nursing basics to restore NHS to full health

i FEEL compelled to comment on the appalling publicity levelled at the standards of care in the NHS in recent months.

I am disappointed, to say the least, at criticism of the standards of nursing care. We are told of patients being left in soiled beds, food plonked in front of patients who need assistance to feed and then it is cleared away uneaten, of physical and verbal abuse of vulnerable patients, rampant infections and God knows what else! The catalogue goes on and on. Why do we tolerate such a situation?

In the 1960s and 1970s, Ely, Ockenden and Whittingham hospitals were making the news and we thought the problems were solved by the creation of the Health Advisory Service. This no longer exists but they did splendid work in tandem with Social Services.

Many mentally-ill patients are today roaming the streets or accommodated in rather expensive care homes as the Victorian institutions are unsuitable for today’s elderly who are mentally ill.

My wife and I consider ourselves fortunate in having trained as nurses in the 1960s at the wonderful Halifax hospitals. Standards of care and compassion were paramount, as were discipline, cleanliness and dependability.

Today, the nursing profession seems to be of the opinion that all nurses should be educated to degree level, but does this necessarily create higher standards of care? I think not. Education is important but what is more important is caring, compassion, kindliness, patience and understanding patients’ needs.

Someone once said “clothes maketh not the man”. I say “degrees maketh not the nurse”. This obsession – for this is what it seems to be – is now being directed towards nursery carers who, I understand, will be required to have a minimum of two A-levels. Will this make them more caring and attentive to the needs of children?

When my wife and I trained, night nurses would sit within the ward where they had their patients under constant observation and within hearing. Fashion changed in favour of privacy and dignity. Patients are now to be found in single rooms or bays with six to eight beds, certainly private but a considerable distance from the nurses’ stations – where, from my observations, many nurses congregate out of touch and sight of their charges.

The now disbanded ‘cadet’ system was, in our day, a splendid method of recruitment to the nursing profession. The two-year apprenticeship sorted out the wheat from the chaff in most cases and one felt confident in the standards of care being delivered.

Infections in hospitals will always occur but where has the old-fashioned hand-washing disappeared to?

I forget, it’s now being replaced by bottles of strategically placed gel throughout the hospital. Is it working I ask myself?

One other thing, in my day nurses, whatever their status, were never allowed to leave the hospital in uniform so as to minimise the risk of infection to others outside the confines of the hospital. Does that happen now? ‘Mufti’ as it is described, was always securely locked in a locker until the nurse’s shift ended.

In conclusion, as a former nurse, I suggest we restore public confidence by concentrating on the basics of nursing and less on academia. Choose nurses to nurse and let governments stop throwing our money abroad and concentrate on our own needs. After all, it is our money, isn’t it?

Are we still proud of our NHS? I wonder.