Commenting on the Royal College of Nursing’s response to the final report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry, the Royal College of Physicians' (RCP) registrar of Dr Patrick Cadigan said:
The RCP agrees that care of the elderly in hospitals must be improved. Many of the instances of sub-standard care that Francis identified relate to the care of older people, often with complex needs including dementia. The RCP believes the priority in the NHS is improving standards for this group: if the NHS get care right for vulnerable older people, often the most difficult group to manage, then we believe care is likely to be improved for most other patients.
The RCP supports the role of the named nurse and named consultant, responsible for patient care. Ward sisters and charge nurses should be given the freedom and responsibility to become leaders. They should be given the status, authority, remuneration, development, and protected time to act as local guardians and leaders of standards.
For further information, please contact Andrew McCracken on +44 (0)203 075 1354 / 07990 745 608, or email andrew.mccracken@rcplondon.ac.uk
The RCP’s own formal response to the Francis Inquiry will be published on 3 September. It will address how to improve the culture in the NHS by developing leadership skills among doctors, how to raise standards of patient care and to improve the hospital system to facilitate high quality compassionate care.