RCN Scotland urges Government to ensure dignity is a key patient right
Published: 06 November 2008
Embargoed until: 00.01hrs, Thursday 6 November 2008
RCN Scotland is calling on the Scottish Government to place dignity in patient care at the heart of all of its health policies. Following the successful launch of a campaign urging the Scottish Government to ensure their decisions that directly or indirectly affect patient care are ‘dignity-proofed’, MSPs taking part in today’s debate on patients’ rights are being asked to put pressure on the Government to take action.
Ellen Hudson, Associate 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 MSPs of all parties to support our campaign and to put pressure on the Scottish Government to ensure that they genuinely make dignity a patients’ right, by introducing dignity-proofing for all of their decisions.”
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Notes to editors
For further information, please call Elinor Jayne on 0131 662 6172 or the out-of-hours press officer on 07962 801005.
There is a Scottish Government debate on patients’ rights taking place in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 6 November 2008.
The dignity-proofed logo is available on request.
RCN Scotland launched its dignity-proofed campaign at SNP conference last month. Supporters of the campaign sent postcards to the Cabinet Secretary calling on the Government and health boards to develop a ‘dignity-proofed’ standard for all health policies. The Government’s proposals for a Patients’ Rights Bill makes clear that dignity and respect are to become key patient entitlements.
Decisions that impact on patient dignity include those on targets for patient care such as the 4-hour emergency care target, workforce planning, design of health care environments, design of gowns, management of healthcare associated infections, resources for palliative care plans.
UK-wide resources for members to promote dignity in their workplace are currently being rolled out, and this campaign is being supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Smith & Nephew.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the world’s largest professional organisation and trade union for nurses. With a membership of over 390,000 members (37,500 in Scotland) the RCN is the voice of nursing across the UK. The RCN promotes patient and nursing interests on a wide range of issues by working closely with Government, trade unions, professional bodies and voluntary organisations.