CNO wants to ‘shine a light’ on the realities of everyday care

Abstract

England’s most senior nurse has urged all hospitals to publish a range of information each month that will ‘shine a light’ on the care they provide. Addressing more than 450 senior nurses last week at her annual summit in Birmingham, chief nursing officer Jane Cummings called for greater transparency and openness in hospitals across the country. She applauded 17 trusts in the north of England for publishing a range of data, such as the results from patient and staff experience surveys and statistics from the NHS Safety Thermometer, which collects rates of falls and pressure ulcers. Starting next month, the organisations will begin publishing monthly staffing levels. Ms Cummings said last week: ‘Being open, honest and transparent has got to be the best way forward.’ She added that the information published was ‘not there for comparison’. She said: ‘It is there to shine a light on what care is really going on and look at ways of improving. ‘For the 17 trusts that have already published – thank you,’ she added. ‘I would love others to do the same. Lots of you publish huge amounts of data on an individual basis. The difference here is doing it using the same template. There is a lot to learn from that.’ In September, Nursing Standard exclusively revealed that trusts across the north of England were planning to sign up to the Transparency Care Initiative, developed by NHS England chief nurse for the north Gill Harris.