RCN Scotland calls on politicians to put dignity first

Published: 15 October 2008

RCN Scotland is calling on the Scottish Government to place dignity in patient care at the heart of all of its health policies. We will be calling on nurses, MSPs and to support the RCN campaign to ensure that future Scottish Government decisions that directly or indirectly affect patient care are ‘dignity-proofed’.

Theresa Fyffe, Director of RCN Scotland, said:

“Patients deserve to be treated with dignity and nurses take their responsibility for this seriously. It is in response to concerns from patients and nurses that RCN is providing support and resources to members wanting to promote the importance of dignity in patient care. However, nurses can be hindered in treating patients with the dignity that they deserve by decisions made by the Scottish Government and health boards.

“RCN Scotland is calling on the Government and health boards to ensure that all decisions they make that impact on patient care are ‘dignity-proofed’. This means that all such decisions, whether they concern staff numbers or the design of wards, must result in levels of dignity being improved, or at the very least maintained.

“We are asking anyone with an interest in how patients are treated to support our campaign and to send a dignity-proofed campaign postcard to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, Nicola Sturgeon MSP, asking the Government to introduce a new dignity-proofed standard for all of their health policies.”

Further information

To support the RCN campaign to make sure that all Scottish health law and policy is 'dignity-proofed', request a campaign postcard to sign and send to the Scottish Government. Contact Elinor Jayne for more information: