Nurses respond to the Health Secretary’s vision for the NHS

Published: 11 June 2010

The Royal College of Nursing today (8th June) responded to Andrew Lansley’s vision for the NHS in his first speech as Secretary of State for Health. Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said:

“Nurses will welcome the pledge from the Secretary of State to put patients at the heart of care. As the healthcare professionals who have the most direct contact with patients, nurses will play a central role in making this happen.

“Factors leading to hospital readmission are often complex and we welcome further detail from the government on its proposal to reduce readmissions. Acute and primary health care staff need to work in co-ordination with social care services to ensure a seamless transition between hospital and home care. The community nursing workforce is the lynchpin that can make this work – sufficient investment is needed to ensure there are enough nurses to make this vision a reality.

“The proposals present an encouraging insight into how the government would like to shape the future of healthcare. However, in today’s tough economic climate the government will need to think carefully to ensure there is sufficient resource to make these changes possible. Empowering staff to develop cost-saving innovations that protect patient care will be an important way of bringing about improvement in the NHS.

“Delivering high quality, effective and safe patient care simply has to remain the number one priority and we welcome further details on the proposals.”

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Notes for Editors

For further information, interviews or illustrations please contact the RCN Media Office on 0207 647 3633, press.office@rcn.org.uk or visit http://www.rcn.org.uk/newsevents/media

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 healthcare policy by working closely with the UK Government and other national and international institutions, trade unions, professional bodies and voluntary organisations.