More Support Needed For NHS Staff

The President of the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh says politicians need to make sure the NHS has enough staff.

Professor Derek Bell is also calling for managers in the Health Service to support and value their workers.

It follows several high profile inquiries into failures in care - including at the Vale of Leven hospital near Glasgow.

Writing in an editorial published today, Professor Derek Bell, is urging all political parties in Scotland and the rest of the UK to urgently commit to developing and implementing minimum staffing levels in the NHS as an important foundation to prevent further serious failings in care.

The editorial reviews the reports of 10 major Inquiries and Reviews into serious failings in care in the UK since 2000, including Mid Staffordshire, Bristol, Lanarkshire and the Vale of Leven. 

The authors believe that patients, NHS staff and the wider public may be forgiven for asking "where next?" and that recent improvements in inspection alone will not be sufficient to prevent a recurrence of such incidents. 

They advocate the need for the NHS at all levels to actively value staff and to support them in their day to day roles in delivering health care. The editorial further explores why the NHS has not learned lessons from the past, the loss of compassion, the erosion of professionalism, the increasing industrialisation and politicisation of the NHS and evidence that where NHS staff are engaged, a range of patient outcomes (including death rates) are improved. 

The editorial is published in The Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

The authors of the editorial make 6 recommendations: 

·         All political parties should commit to developing and implementing minimum staffing levels for all professions within hospital settings, based upon best evidence, as a policy priority

·         Building on the unprecedented level of civic engagement experienced during the recent referendum in Scotland, we would encourage patients throughout the UK to become more actively involved in their care and decisions regarding the delivery of services (by becoming more involved in managing their health, joining a local patient group, raising concerns or contacting your local MP/MSP/AM to advocate and support improvements within the NHS)

·         Doctors, nurses and other health professionals should be reminded of their value to the NHS and of their responsibility to provide the highest quality of care to patients, to continually seek to improve service delivery, to act professionally at all times and to report concerns regarding poor quality care; where they do not do so, they should be held accountable

·         Managers should be encouraged to support professionals in their clinical decision-making, in developing the leadership skills of those responsible for leading teams, in delivering the highest quality care and in reporting concerns; they should also work within their Boards and Trusts to foster a supportive environment in which staff are seen as valued individuals and in which innovation is encouraged

·         All Boards and Trusts should be encouraged to develop, publish and promote policies aimed at engaging staff, understanding and responding to professional concerns and valuing staff

·         Recognising its leadership role and responsibilities in improving standards, the College should continue to advocate evidence-based health policy and to drive and encourage collaborative working for the benefit of patients, while supporting physicians throughout their careers

Commenting on their editorial, Prof Derek Bell, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE), said: "Doctors, patients and the wider public care passionately about the NHS throughout the UK. While there are no guarantees, and further failings in care may emerge, the potential for 'where next' will only reduce if we work collectively and collaboratively to strengthen the NHS which we all value greatly. 

"This will not be easy and will require incremental change and recognition of what can be improved through regulation and what will require staff engagement and cultural change. As a starting point, we wish to work with the leaders of all political parties in the UK and will be asking them to publicly commit, before the General Election, to implementing minimum staffing levels within the NHS. 

"In parallel, we will engage with other stakeholders including patients, the medical and nursing professions, NHS managers, NHS Boards and Trusts to work collectively to address the issues raised."