RCN responds to new hospital data announcement

Published: 03 June 2010

For immediate release: Wednesday 2nd June 2010

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) today responded to the announcement by the Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley, of weekly disclosure of infection levels in hospitals.

Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the RCN, said:

“Nurses have been leading the fight against infections across the health service, and their efforts have resulted in a very significant drop in infection rates. The Secretary of State Andrew Lansley is right, however, to avoid complacency and to offer information to help inform the decisions of patients. The government should now work with nurses and patient groups to look at infection prevention as a whole to ensure that the provision of data alone does not lead to unnecessary ward boycotting, closures or alarm.

“Infection prevention is complex, however it can be dealt with by rigorous clinical management of infection procedures and empowering nurses to take charge. If this type of information is disclosed, we must ensure that it is in a form which the public can usefully interpret, and which will not take nursing staff away from delivering clinical care.”

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