RCN welcomes moves to measure quality of nursing care

Published: 18 June 2008

The RCN has welcomed today's announcement on the Government's plans to develop measures specific to the quality of nursing care in areas such as compassion, safety and effectiveness. Health secretary, Alan Johnson, has told the Guardian newspaper that he wants the performance of every nursing team in England to be measured, with the results possibly published on an official website.

RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary, Dr Peter Carter commented on the plans saying:

“We are delighted that the government has recognised the need to measure quality in nursing care. These new standards are groundbreaking in that they will directly recognise nurses for the kind of care that patients really value…As we move forward with this initiative it will be important for nurses to understand that the new measures are designed to improve performance, target resources and encourage innovation rather than punish nurses for poor performance”.

The Health Secretary has made the announcment in a keynote speech to the NHS Confederation today.