A hospital trust has received the international stamp of approval. They have now been warned by inspectors, as they need to try and make some urgent improvements. During a visit, they have found evidence of bullying and even racial discrimination. If you work in the industry of private nursing or if you work in homecare then you will understand how important it is to make sure that everyone is treat fairly and that the working environment is suited to everyone. Unfortunately, with this trust it doesn’t look like this has been the case. Leadership at the trust is not good enough and the CQC have gone as far to raise concerns about the staffing situation. Leadership at the trust needs significant improvement. The report follows some of the action that has been taken last year. Concerns were made regarding the maternity unit and this is one of the largest trusts in the United Kingdom.
The result of the findings really do show that the rating of the trust has gone from good, to needs improvement. Nottingham City Hospital is run by the trust and they were one of the very first hospitals in the UK to have received this accreditation. They have it from the ANCC and this happened in the same year as the paediatric trust services. The two schemes are intended to recognise the importance of organisations as well as seeing the excellence. This allows training nurses to not only develop, but to also thrive.
That being said, it is abundantly clear that there are some changes to be made and if they are not made soon then this could result in disaster for the trust which is the last thing that anyone wants. Only time will tell what’s going to happen from now.
A new NHS strategy has now been launched to try and help make sure that various tech is used in healthcare. The people who are running the strategy are trying to make sure that they are able to improve patient safety while also protecting nurses. They are expanding to digital safety training as well across the health workforce. If you work in homecare right now or if you have ambitions when it comes to private nursing then this is certainly something that you should try and take note of.
The NHS England have published the strategy and some of the priorities include trying to make sure that patient incidents are recorded. It’s also important to try and make sure that any digital failures are noted and that new training is rolled out properly. They want to make sure that they stay on top of digital safety. They are also completely committed to making sure that they accelerate the use of digital tech so that they can record and then track any implanted devices. This will help them to generate the device that will help them to understand better how digital tech can be applied properly to patient safety. Those who are working behind the scenes have said that they are trying hard to improve the safety of the tech and they are also trying to promote solutions where possible. This will help to ensure that the right safety challenges are met. They have very much stressed that the use of digital tech is now expanding across the health care service. This is especially during the current pandemic. The document shed some light on a new digital service that will support the strategy while also ensuring that any data is used properly and efficiently.
Ministers in the UK are currently being urged to take action to try and tackle some of the many nurse shortages that are happening. They have to ensure that they have enough staff who are able to take on shifts so that patients can be cared for properly. The Royal College of Nursing have stated that the annual awareness day has been spearheaded by WHO. This has to be a wake-up call for the government, because the homecare nurse sector and the private nursing sector is now worse than it has ever been.
Nursing staff do deserve to be able to work with enough staff to-hand so that they can care for people as required. If this cannot be done then they may find themselves in a very dire situation. The global event is going to bring together families, communities, caregivers, leaders and even policymakers so that everyone can show the level of commitment that they are willing to support. There are well over 35,000 nurse vacancies in England alone and the organisation, RCN have warned that if this is not addressed soon then patient’s lives could be put at risk. When you take into account the Covid-19 pandemic as well, it’s not hard to see that patients are requiring more care and this is putting a huge amount of strain on hospitals. Nurses are having to work longer hours to cover shifts but if the nursing shortage was addressed then this would help to sort the issue while also making sure that patients are not left without the appropriate level of care.
Of course, only time will tell what the future holds for nursing, but right now it looks like more needs to be done to ensure that nurses are given the support they need to do their jobs efficiently.
The health minister for Northern Ireland has requested assistance from the military so that they can continue to support their health care services, which are currently under pressure. Those nurses who work in homecare or even private nursing have warned that they are currently working in some of the worst conditions that they have ever had to deal with. This is a very stark message and Robin Swann has stated that we are facing a situation that we have never had to deal with before. That being said, professionals are doing everything they can to determine any measures they can take to try and alleviate some of the pressure, if possible.
Services that are in Northern Ireland are facing challenges that are being caused by the rising cases of Covid-19. Various hospitals are running over capacity and there is also a shortage of beds. In the last 7 days, it would seem that there have been 8,662 cases all across the country. There are also 421 beds that are occupied and there are 2,558 beds that are occupied for other reasons. Even more worryingly, there are 190 people who are waiting for admission to the country. This means that the number of beds currently stands at 103% capacity. There are 86 beds required, in order to make sure that this number is brought down. When you look at care homes, there are 108 Covid outbreaks and this translates to two or more cases in a single facility. This was confirmed as of the 17th of September.
Of course, the cases should drop soon as people are getting vaccinated, but it does not change the fact that nurses are exhausted and that they are simply not going to be able to do their job if something is not done soon.
Sue Ward who is a chief nurse over at the NHS Foundation Trust has stated that the MFT Lamp has now gone to Abda Hussain. He is a staff nurse over at the Manchester General Hospital. A trust has signed off on the extended Year of the Nurse with an event that is being held at the Manchester Cathedral. If you are working in homecare or if you have experience in private nursing then you may have been invited to take part in the ceremony. More than 300 nurses showed up last week and it was organised by the biggest NHS trust in the United Kingdom. The WHO have designated 2020 to be the Year of the Nurse, purely because it coincides with the anniversary of Florence Nightingale.
When you look at the celebrations that have taken place in Manchester you will see that they have all hosted the MFT Lamp. This is actually a nursing symbol that is strongly linked to Florence Nightingale. The closing event has shown that the lamp was passed down to the final person which is Abda Hussain. He is a staff nurse and the lamp is due to be displayed at the hospital because of the forthcoming redevelopment. It would seem that 2020 was the year of the Nurse and this is deigned to honour anyone who might have been tested during this challenging time. It’s designed to support those who have been affected personally and professionally. Professor Cheryl Lenney who has launched the extensive programme has stated that there is a lot of work to be done but at the end of the day it is exciting to see things moving forward and that more needs to be done to try and honour the nurses who have put endless work in during the pandemic.
National policies have been introduced as the result of the pandemic and they have negatively affected those who come from ethnic minorities. It would seem that it is affecting end of life care more and this is not acceptable to say the least. Those who work in private nursing and in the homecare setting have voiced their opinion on this and they have stated that it is just not good enough. King’s College London have chosen to lead the study and they have collected well over 277 services across the UK. They have done this via an online survey and they based a lot of their information on the first wave of the pandemic. They have found that the Covid-19 policies that were in place happened to impact those who are from minority groups. On top of this, it makes the at-risk population more vulnerable overall. Studies have found that those who are from minority backgrounds were affected when it comes to visiting restrictions. In some instances, patients would have had large families involved with providing care but this was not allowed. Muslim families have come out to say that the strict visitation policies are not suitable and that having more people at the time of a person’s death is associated with them having a much better afterlife.
On top of this, ethnic minorities feel as though there are communication challenges between families and staff members as well. They find it hard to understand English when it might not be their first language and this has been compounded by the amount of PPE that is available. On top of this, you also have masks which stop the people involved in the situation from being able to communicate as well as they might have been able to.
The Unison union are going to launch a ballot that is essentially going to gauge how many members plan on taking industrial action against the pay situation. They have found that there is an overwhelming majority that have voted against the 3% pay deal that is set to take place in England. The news has come less than a week after the Royal College of Nursing association took voting members and they all branded the deal unacceptable.
The results of the Union’s consultation have found that 80% of the members were against the pay and that 20% felt as though it wasn’t great but acceptable. The consultative exercise is going to run from July until September and it is open to anyone who is in England. It has followed an announcement that there is going to be a 3% increase in pay and that this is in line with the recommendations that are in line with the NHS review body The deal has come after months of delay. When you look at Scotland, you will see that a deal was imposed for those who work in homecare settings or even those who are pursuing a career in private nursing. They have given nurses a pay increase of 4% and members of the RCN were truly against this. They voted against the offer from the Scottish government and they did not feel as though this was enough. When you look at Ireland, you will see that nurses there are on track for a 3% increase but an announcement is yet to have taken place. This is not expected to appear until next month but there is going to be a budget review. The fact that many health staff have stated that they are willing to challenge the 3% should mean that the government thinks twice in the future.
A safe staffing tool has now been launched and it is designed to support the NHS and various emergency departments. There is hope that it is going to improve the outcome of the working environment for various staff members. The emergency department has been backed by the nursing staff officer and they have stressed that the staffing situation is in fact high on the agenda. Of course, having the right level of nursing staff is crucial when it comes to patient care. The new tool has been developed by the chief nurses and it has been licensed by the Imperial College in London. It is very similar to those that are now available in settings that include inpatient wards as well as in mental health settings. If you work in homecare or if you work in private nursing then you will know what a fantastic solution this is. Those who are backing the initiative have stated that the tool is in fact been developed even further to try and make sure that staffing levels are suited to adult and children. Safe staffing is very high on the agenda and of course, emergency departments are not an exception at all.
The innovative tool is very simple to use and it is designed to help nursing officers and even emergency departments to make decisions that are based on evidence. It was designed to help improve the outcome for patients who need emergency departments. It’s also going to greatly help to improve the departments for emergency staff.
This is major to say the least and it just goes to show how imperative it is that people are able to access care from nurses who are not understaffed or under pressure. This movement hopes to ensure that the correct changes are made.
