as “beacon wards”, were identified in Lothian to showcase areas of good practice in leadership and compassionate care. Applications for beacon ward status,
particularly in the first round, were “very competitive”, says Stringer. “People wanted to be identified, and that was
really, really good. I think from then on, it is about making sure this was consistently applied, rolled out, that we use the outcomes of these to spread further.” Te university also has its own life-like hospital
wards at its new Sighthill campus where nursing students can get a better feel for the hospital environment before they experience the real thing. Simulator dummies, and in some cases patient volunteers, enable the students to act out scenarios in real-time, receive feedback and assess their own responses. Identifying positive care practices and then debating and sharing them within the university and the NHS can help tease out what compassion looks like in individual circumstances, Smith says. “Often it can be what you might consider to be tiny things, but tiny things can become huge things,” he says. “One example that we are talking about at the moment is an older person who was given a plastic cup in a hospital ward. She absolutely detested drinking out of a plastic cup, she found it physically hard to manipulate and she just didn’t like it – she had a porcelain cup and saucer, thank you very much, at home and that is what she preferred to use. “She complained about this but continued to
have it – seemingly a tiny thing – but then it was noticed she wasn’t drinking and was getting dehydrated. So before you know it, what is small becomes very big and a very significant event for a patient.” Some might question whether that is an example of compassionate care, Smith says, “but I would say I think it is, because it is about responding to someone’s experience.”
Beyond the headlines Stop the Stigma
The past indiscretions of the media have been the topic of much debate as the Leveson inquiry hears examples of bad practice – and even worse behaviour – and reflects on the industry’s culture, practices and ethics. However, current practices are also worthy of
scrutiny. The Poverty Alliance is seeking to draw attention
to negative media reporting that perpetuates stereotypes and myths about poverty and detracts from efforts to address it. The Stick Your Labels! campaign – the first of its kind in the UK – calls for more action to challenge
Professor Dame Joan Stringer
“I had many, many discussions about the word compassion because it was quite provocative”
Te final report refers to key aspects such as dignity and respect, but deliberately avoids providing an absolute definition of compassion, he says, explaining that people need to work towards arriving at their own understanding of what compassionate care means if they are to take ownership of it. For him, the next challenge is to develop some way of assessing and measuring compassion to ensure it remains a priority. “I think this is a really critical issue because
the stigma of poverty. It believes the media has an important role to play in framing the debate around key issues such as welfare reform. Negative reporting that caricatures and casts judgement on those in poverty undermines individuals’ confidence and sense of self-worth, but also the support for anti-poverty policies. “Stigmatising people is not only cruel, it erodes
understanding, is socially divisive and creates acceptance of a more unequal society with less support for redistribution measures,” the campaign observes. Facts, not fiction are required – sadly the truth is
often sensational enough without the added spin. The campaign has a note of caution for politicians
as well and urges them to choose their words more carefully. “Negative reporting and rhetoric from politicians
what I’ve described to you are local stories, if you like, that are definitely helpful for learning but there is something about more generic understanding of where people are at and how it goes forward. Tis is a really difficult and complex area and there is a lot of research going on and there are some examples of good practice, but we have a definite sense of the data we’ve gathered and we need to develop into some form of questioning, which we are working on as the next phase.” Smith and a colleague were recently invited to give evidence on care for older people in London and he says this was one of the main areas highlighted by chief executives. “If we can’t talk about this in a measured way compared to things like infection rates and waiting times, the priority slips. So the hard-to- measure becomes second order and it is about trying to lift that up.” Stringer says she is “tremendously proud” of what the collaboration has achieved and its contribution to this important field. “We all talk about the increasing elderly population; we know what the demographics are. If we don’t get this right now it is just going to get so much worse in the future, so tackling it now and accepting there are issues and there
are problems and, yes, part of that is how we pay for this care in the future, but part of it is about our attitude towards it and how we cope in the future, particularly as far as the elderly are concerned. We are not a society that scores too highly in that agenda and we need to get better. “So I’m really proud of what the team have done in this area. I think it is really good and hope we can work with others to help to raise that standard.”
leads to an acceptance of poverty and the blaming of people in poverty for situations that are outside their control and the normalisation of the discrimination of a group of people in society.” The campaign has its own Facebook page to
enable people to name and shame “vilifying”, “purposefully misleading” and “sensationalist” reporting, as well as a providing a way of challenging politicians who use “damaging” language when discussing those in poverty. Followers are also prompted to write to the editors of papers that carry stigmatising reports and to take part in the dialogue by sharing their views and experiences of poverty. By challenging poor journalism, it aims to improve it in the hope that the Facebook wall will one day be filled with positive examples that have been singled out for praise rather than censure.
30 January 2012
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