Tweet
divdiv class=story-body readability=62 span class=story-date#13; span class=date19 November 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time09:31 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; span class=byline span class=byline-nameBy Nick Triggle/span span class=byline-titleHealth correspondent, BBC News/span /span !-- Embedding the video player --#13;!-- This is the embedded player component --#13;#13;#13; #13; #13;#13;#13;#13;!-- wwrights check --#13;!-- Empty country is used on test environment --#13;#13;#13;#13;div class=videoInStoryB readability=1#13; div id=emp-25001165-22788 class=emp#13; #13; #13; noscript#13; div class=warning readability=1#13; img class=holding src=http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71209000/jpg/_71209522_de25.jpg alt=Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt/pstrongPlease turn on JavaScript./strong Media requires JavaScript to play./p#13; /div#13; /noscript#13; #13; !-- embedding script --#13; #13; /div#13; !-- companion banner -- #13; #13; #13; #13; !-- END - companion banner --!-- caption --p class=captionJeremy Hunt: Duty of care prompted by airline industry approach to near misses./p#13; !-- END - caption --#13; #13; #13;#13;/div#13;!-- end of the embedded player component --#13;#13;!-- Player embedded -- #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1The NHS in England needs to undergo a profound transformation to create an open, honest and learning culture, the health secretary says./p#13; pJeremy Hunt spelt out the challenge as he unveiled a series of measures in response to the public inquiry into the Stafford Hospital scandal./p#13; pHe said the NHS had the potential to become the safest in the world./p#13; pOne of the key steps included getting hospitals to publish details of whether they have enough nurses on wards./p#13; pFrom April, patients will be able to see the numbers on a new national safety website./p#13; pThere will be no national minimum staffing standard, but it is likely to include recommended nurse-to-patient ratios for different types of ward./p#13; pMinisters also announced:/p#13; div class=story-feature wide readability=13#13; a class=hidden href=#story_continues_2Continue reading the main story/a h2Has the government accepted all the recommendations?/h2#13; !-- pullout-items--#13; #13; !-- pullout-body--#13; pThe Francis Inquiry made 290 recommendations in total. The government has claimed it has accepted all but nine of them./p#13; pThose not taken forward include the call for the regulators Monitor and the Care Quality Commission to be merged. /p#13; pThis was never likely to happen as both organisations had recently been given extra responsibilities and undergone changes under the reforms to the NHS made earlier this year. /p#13; pBut of the 281 recommendations the government says have been met, one in four have not been accepted in full./p#13; pFor example, the inquiry called for a system of registration for healthcare assistants, but the care certificate being introduced falls short of that./p#13; pMeanwhile, the inquiry wanted the duty of candour to apply to individuals not just organisations./p#13; pNonetheless, inquiry chair Robert Francis QC said he was happy, describing the government's response as a comprehensive collection of measures./p#13; #13; !-- pullout-links--#13; /div p id=story_continues_2• Hospitals will have to produce quarterly reports on how they are handling complaints and clearly set out how patients can raise them./p#13; p• A legal duty of candour on organisations to be open and honest about mistakes./p#13; p• A criminal offence of wilful neglect to hold staff to account. /p#13; p• A fit and proper person's test so managers who have failed in past will be barred from taking up posts./p#13; p• A care certificate to ensure healthcare assistants and social care workers have the right skills and training./p#13; p• Every patient should have the names of a responsible consultant and nurse listed above their bed./p#13; pMr Hunt added: Today's measures are a blueprint for restoring trust, reinforcing professional pride in frontline staff and above all giving confidence that they will be given the best and safest care and the way to do that is to be completely open and transparent./p#13; pI believe we can be the safest healthcare system in the world with these changes./p#13; span class=cross-headIntense debate/span#13; pThe neglect and abuse at Stafford Hospital between 2005 and 2008, which led to the unnecessary deaths, has already been well documented./p#13; div class=story-feature wide readability=7#13; a class=hidden href=#story_continues_3Continue reading the main story/a h2Case study/h2#13; !-- pullout-items--#13; #13;#13; !-- pullout-body--#13; pFrank and Janet Robinson's son John Moore-Robinson died at Stafford Hospital in 2006./p#13; pJohn was in a bike accident. He was taken to Mid Staff hospital Aamp;E, which diagnosed him as having bruised ribs and sent him home with painkillers and said after a night's rest he'd be fine. Four hours later he was dead because he had a ruptured spleen./p#13; pWe think it happened because of staffing levels and mismanagement right from top to bottom at the Trust. /p#13; pOn the day John was admitted there were no consultants on duty. He was examined by a very junior doctor with very little experience in Aamp;E medicine. /p#13; pIt's very difficult to live with the fact that John is dead. But then to keep finding other things out as you go along, it's even worse. /p#13; #13; !-- pullout-links--#13; /div p id=story_continues_3But the £13m a href=http://www.midstaffspublicinquiry.com/reportFrancis Inquiry/a, published at the start of February, and this response from the government, has been aimed at tackling the wider cultural problems in the NHS./p#13; pThe inquiry accused the NHS of putting corporate self-interest ahead of patients and concluded that the failings went from the top to the bottom of the system./p#13; pIn total 290 recommendations were put forward and Mr Hunt said the measures announced address the overwhelming majority of them./p#13; pHowever, it is the move to get trusts to be open over staffing levels that is attracting the most intense debate. /p#13; pIt is something the Francis Inquiry said should be looked at and that the Safe Staffing Alliance, which includes organisations such as the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), and Health Select Committee have called for to be introduced./p#13; pThe government has already asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the official advisory body for the health service, to look at how safe staffing should be measured./p#13; pEvidence suggests different levels of staffing are needed for different wards. /p#13; span class=cross-head'Open and honest'/span#13; pA new website - expected to be run by NHS England or the Care Quality Commission - is likely to give details on numbers of staff and whether they breach recommended levels./p#13; pIt will be up and running by June and will include data on staffing levels on each ward, each day. It will be updated monthly./p#13; div class=story-feature wide readability=9#13; a class=hidden href=#story_continues_4Continue reading the main story/a h2What will the staffing levels be?/h2#13; !-- pullout-items--#13; #13; !-- pullout-body--#13; pThe NHS is yet to decide exactly what the recommended staffing levels will be. /p#13; pThey will vary from ward to ward and will depend on what type of patients are on those wards at any one time. Staffing levels will also differ from day shifts to night shifts./p#13; pThere are various ways of calculating what numbers should be on wards. Some NHS hospitals already use computer-based systems to plan their staffing, while in states in the US and Australia the use of set safe staffing levels have become widespread./p#13; pIt is likely that, at busy times, elderly care wards will need one nurse to between five and seven patients; in medical and surgical wards about one nurse to five patients; for children's wards one to every four patients; in high dependency wards, one nurse to every two patients; and in intensive care wards, one to one - according to many of the systems already in use./p#13; #13; !-- pullout-links--#13; /div p id=story_continues_4It is also expected to include information on other indicators, such as death rates and complaints, although these are already publicly available./p#13; pChief Nursing Officer Jane Cummings said there was a very clear link between staffing and risk. /p#13; pPatients and the public are therefore entitled to know that we have the right number of people in place to provide safe, quality care every time./p#13; pBut RCN general secretary Peter Carter said the greater transparency will raise the issue of whether there are enough staff available./p#13; pOfficial figures show 6,000 nursing posts have been lost since the election - about 2% of the total./p#13; pIt is also important that trusts are able to take action if their staffing levels fall below this number, Mr Carter added./p#13; pLabour's shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: Too many hospitals in England do not have safe staffing levels. /p#13; pWe have repeatedly warned the government about nurse numbers falling to dangerous levels. This new focus on recruitment is overdue but it shouldn't have taken this long and it won't be enough to repair the damage of three years of falling nurse numbers on David Cameron's watch./p#13; pPeter Walsh, chief executive of Action Against Medical Accidents, warned ministers were at risk of making a disastrous mistake if they did not extend the legal duty of candour to include all errors - at the moment the government has only said it will apply to mistakes that cause death or severe harm although it is going to consider whether to extend that to include moderate harm./p#13; pAnd Julie Bailey, of Cure the NHS, the campaign group which helped bring the problems at Stafford Hospital to national attention, added: We are very disappointed and are not happy at all. /p#13; pThis is going to create more bureaucracy in the NHS not improve things. /p#13; div class=comment-introduction readability=-49#13; p class=introductionAre you a nurse? Or have you been in hospital recently? What are your views on staffing levels? Tell us about your experiences using the form below. /p#13; #13;/div#13; #13; #13; #13; #13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center