BLOGS BLOGS
Allowing staff greater use of pow- ers to clamp down on nuisance behaviour will also remind those individuals that their behaviour is unacceptable and will not be toler- ated, as well as making staff less afraid of being powerless against violence at work because of red tape restrictions.
© N Hall
November 16 Push and pull
A new report from the RCM sug- gests that midwives could consider leaving the NHS if the pension age increases. At the same time, many are concerned about job cuts and the threat of redundancy.
Of course there are many mid- wives working in the NHS, but there is still a shortage to fill de- mand. If midwives leave, either by choice or because they are forced out, this will leave our maternity care in a very sorry state.
But the statistics in this survey could be misleading; how many of those who said they would consid- er leaving are near to retirement age anyway? Perhaps they want to leave before the requirement to stay longer is enforced.
Additionally, there is a large dif- ference between considering leav- ing (or saying you would in a sur- vey to make a point) and actually doing it. In times of economic un- certainty, those who do still have jobs may need to put up with less than desirable changes in order to keep them.
November 11
Time for intolerance Recent action that has been put
into place to offer better protec- tion to NHS staff from physical assault should be welcomed. Staff delivering health care to citizens should not have to expect or put up with assault in the workplace.
It is encouraging news that there is a significant increase in the amount of criminal sanctions ap- plied following reported physical assaults on NHS staff, demon- strating that the welfare and safety of the teams who aim to deliver care is being taken more seriously.
The recent joint working agree- ment between the NHS, the Police, and the Crown Prosecution Ser- vice, is a sure deterrent towards violent individuals who will begin to learn the consequences of their actions as they see an increase in punishment for similar offences.
Maybe it is time that other or- ganisations followed the NHS in cracking down on those who have been used to getting away with inexcusable, and often violent, be- haviour towards staff.
It wouldn’t be tolerated from a stranger, so why should it be toler- ated from a patient or client?
November 8 Court of public opinion
Two deeply held principles are in conflict when it comes to the Roy- al Brompton decision by a High Court judge.
We want an independent judicia- ry to ensure everything is legally sound, and we want our medical professionals to be listened to on matters of patient care.
The joint committee on children’s heart surgery and those linked to it are right to suggest the judge’s point is something of a technical- ity – even if the Brompton had
The systemic bias found in assess- ments of doctors is quite worrying.
The results show that patients and colleagues consistently judge someone less favourably if their primary medical degree was from a non-European country, or if they practised as a psychiatrist.
Certain reasons are understand- able; if the patient was not seeing their “usual doctor”, or if a col- league did not come into regular contact with the doctor they are less able to make a positive assess- ment as they do not have enough experience or understanding of that doctor, and we are all wary of the unknown.
But the knowledge that assess- ments like this could have an impact on that doctor’s career highlights the injustice of our bi- ases and the importance of careful interpretation of both patient and colleague feedback.
Any new system of judging doc- tors’ performance must take these results into account, to ensure a fair process of evaluation.
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16 | national health executive Nov/Dec 11
been scored as highly as it could have been for the research that it was not allowed to submit late on in the process, it would still have scored lower than the other two.
The idea that a higher score could have led to a wider clamour for all three units to stay open seems marginal, considering the absolute assurance on the part of so many surgeons and doctors that con- centrating it in two was best for patient care.
We can’t ignore the judge, and we can’t ignore the surgeons: but hopefully this can be resolved as soon as possible.
October 28 Casting judgement
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