RCN welcomes Government public sector plan

Published: 11 March 2009

The Royal College of Nursing has said the Government is doing the right thing by entrusting decisions relating to care to frontline staff and acknowledging the experience of nurses in delivering NHS improvements.

The comments were made in response to the publication of the Government’s proposals for the future of the public sector in ‘Working Together - Public Services On Your Side’ and the creation of the Nursing Commission – The Future of Nursing and Midwifery.

RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary, Dr. Peter Carter, said the College was looking forward to working with the Government to shape the plan for a 21st century health service and added:

“During ten years of significant investment in the health service, nurses have been central to the delivery of wide-ranging improvements in the NHS. This is the group of health professionals that spends more time with patients than any other and therefore know what’s needed to deliver high quality patient care.

Lord Darzi’s Review has laid a blueprint for radically improving patient care and this Commission will outline many of the next steps that the NHS needs to take.

It is right that Government are acknowledging that patients and all public service users will get the best possible care when decisions are in the hands of frontline staff. The commitment to tapping into the innovation and creativity of health professionals instead of relying on Whitehall for the next big ideas for the public sector is very welcome indeed. By genuinely trusting and enabling different parts of the public sector to share ideas with each other, the best ideas will come through”.

‘Working Together - Public Services on your side’ – outlines how people in England will be able to share information and experiences on the performance of schools, hospitals and police forces.

Further information

In the area of health, the Government has pledged to:

Offer 15 million people with long term care conditions a personal care plan by December 2010.
Provide free health check-ups to approximately 1 million people under new NHS services by April 2010.
Provide greater investment for all local councils to begin to offer eligible older and disabled people a personal budget for their social care support.
Extend GP practice opening times.
Provide people with opportunities to comment about all local health services direct through the NHS Choices website.
Look at giving nurses and midwives the freedom to lead improvements in their services through the Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery.