RCN response to HSC report on annual accountability hearings

Published: 07 March 2012

Responding to today’s Health Select Committee report on the annual accountability hearings, Royal College of Nursing Chief Executive & General Secretary, Dr Peter Carter, said:

“We welcome the Health Select Committee’s focus on protecting NHS staff, who raise concerns about their workplace. However, the key issue is not gagging orders but the culture of many NHS organisations in which concerns are not addressed and staff are often actively dissuaded from raising issues. An RCN survey in December 2011 found that 84 per cent of nurses said they would be concerned about victimisation, personal reprisals or a negative effect on their career if they were to report concerns to their employers.

“With cuts to frontline services, staff are becoming increasingly overstretched. It is vital that they are able to speak up from the outset and can be confident that action will be taken on the issues they raise without fear of reprisal.

“We also support the Committee’s call for mandatory regulation of healthcare assistants to maximise public protection. This is a crucial issue and it is disappointing that the Government rejected an amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill guaranteeing mandatory regulation. We believe that the Government’s proposed voluntary system simply does not go far enough.”

Ends

Notes for Editors

1. For further information, please contact the RCN Media Office on 020 7647 3633, press.office@rcn.org.uk or visit  http://www.rcn.org.uk/newsevents/media

2. The 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.