Government needs to get a grip, says RCN
Published: 24 August 2007
Responding to media reports that nurses are to be encouraged to smile more, General Secretary of the RCN, Dr Peter Carter, said:
"The NHS is in the grip of a deficits crisis that is causing serious service cuts and huge job losses. Rushed reforms have wasted taxpayers' money and threatened the quality of NHS care; and the morale of NHS staff is crashing in the wake of the government's plan to cut their pay this year.
"So what's the big idea discussed at last Thursday's Cabinet meeting? How do they intend to turn this around? Well we understand a management consultant has recommended to the Cabinet that nurses should smile more.
"We are dismayed by the way in which this most serious of situations is apparently now being trivialised. What next - a Smile Tsar? The government needs to get a grip and get in touch with the reality of what's happening in the NHS."
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Notes to Editors
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Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the voice of nursing across the UK and is the largest professional union of nursing staff in the world.
The RCN promotes the interest of nurses and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape health care policy by working closely with the UK Government and other national and international institutions, trade unions, professional bodies and voluntary organisations