Compassion in practice: care at the centre

Abstract

British Journal of Healthcare Assistants September 2014 Vol 08 No 09 423 © 2 01 4 M A H ea lt hc ar e Lt d are is central to the life and work of healthcare assistants, nurses and midwives. Care touches not only individual patients at any point in their life but also their friends and families and, by extension, can improve health for whole communities. Trying to define what care looks and feels like cannot be summed up in a single answer, but it is certainly clear when it is absent. Tragic failings such as Mid Staffs and Winterbourne View threatened patient confidence and challenged us as professionals. The Francis Report, the Cavendish and Berwick Reviews and Sir Bruce Keogh’s Report all highlighted the need to improve our professional care. In seeking to improve, we consulted extensively with staff and patients. From this exercise we took away a clear emphasis on renewing and reinvigorating the centrality of compassion in the care we deliver. Care is one of six core values and behaviours encapsulated in the 6Cs: care, compassion, competence, communication, courage, commitment. Since their launch at the end of 2012, the 6Cs have been welcomed enthusiastically by nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants. They reflect values and behaviours recognised by patients and carers as essential to the delivery of high-quality compassionate care. The 6Cs are brought to life every day by healthcare workers in a wide range of care-giving situations. I am moved and inspired by the examples I encounter, and am pleased to be able to share one such story here. Jane Cummings ‘Care’ is in our job title as healthcare assistants