Nurses are to be rated according to the levels of care and empathy they give to patients under a new initiative to raise standards in the NHS, it was revealed today.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson told The Guardian newspaper he wants the performance of every nursing team in every ward across England to be scored, with the results displayed on an official website.
Mr Johnson said he believes compassionate care from nurses is as crucial to the recovery of patients as the skills of surgeons.
The compassion index will be compiled by health regulators using surveys of patients' views while in hospital, including feedback about the attitude of staff.
It will also measure standards of nutritional care, minimisation of pain, hand-washing and safety on the wards.
The proposal will be launched in Manchester today (19th June) at the annual conference of the NHS Confederation, which represents NHS organisations and some independent healthcare providers, ahead of the 60th anniversary of the health service next month.
Initiatives
In an interview with The Guardian, Mr Johnson said it was the first of several initiatives which will emerge from a review of the NHS that the Prime Minister commissioned from Lord Darzi, the cancer surgeon and health minister. Lord Darzi's conclusions are due to be published just before the anniversary on July 5.
Mr Johnson said he hoped to encourage friendly rivalry between wards over which nursing team could achieve the best ratings.
The Government wants to publish each trust's overall nursing quality score, to inform patients when they are choosing where to be treated. The scheme will be piloted and first results are likely to emerge next year, according to the newspaper.
Mr Johnson said he had strong support from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and health union Unison.
"Best surgeon"
"What nurses tell us is that you can have the best surgeon in the world, who carries out the most terrific operation on you, but your stay in hospital won't be satisfactory if you don't get a high level of compassion and care... If your experience involves nurses looking grumpy, or someone being rude, or not getting people there when you need them, then it ruins the whole experience," he told The Guardian.
"The NHS is so effective because, in the majority of cases, that care and compassion, that smile, that welcoming atmosphere, that ambience is there all the time. But the nurses don't get the recognition for this that they deserve."
Mr Johnson said he does not want to publish scores for individual nurses and he has no plans to use them as a basis for calculating performance pay.
Peter Carter, the RCN general secretary, was quoted in The Guardian as saying: "We think measuring nursing quality is an extremely good idea. It is difficult and has not been done before. But it can open nurses' performance up to real scrutiny, instead of people relying on anecdote."
Mr Carter said patients had a "feelgood" factor when they were discharged from hospital and tended to be grateful and complimentary.
He added that the RCN would work with the Government to establish a scientific measure of compassion and quality.
Source: Manchester Evening News