A response to a
series of recommendations made by the PM Commission on the Future
of Nursing and Midwifery was published today by Health Minister
Anne Milton.
Frontline Care: The report of the Prime Minister’s
Commission on the future of Nursing and Midwifery in
England was commissioned by the previous administration and
published on 2 March 2010. The 20 recommendations made by the
Commission covered issues such as how nurses and midwives could
improve safety, high quality care and more freedom to manage,
commission and run their own services.
Speaking at the Royal College of Nursing conference, Anne Milton said:
“Nurses and midwives give patients the care, compassion and the
benefits of the experience they have – planning and delivering
care in a wide range of settings in which they work. As a former
nurse, I was pleased to see that the Commission’s report raised
the profile of nursing and midwifery but we have to go further.
“Our plans to modernise the NHS aims to deliver high quality
patient care with NHS frontline staff at the forefront. Nurses and
midwives must be given the opportunity to shape and improve care
in their area.
“The Government has launched an exercise to pause, listen,
reflect on and improve our NHS Modernisation plans. This is a real
opportunity for nurses and midwives to help us build a dynamic
future for nursing and midwifery and make sure that the NHS is
safe for future generations.”
The Government’s response to Frontline Care includes the
following recommendations:
more autonomy for nurses and midwives;a new contractual right
for staff to raise their concerns direct to the Care Quality
Commission;increase the number of health visitors;to have a
director of nursing in the Department of Health with a greater
public health focus and a chief nursing officer on the NHS
Commissioning Board.;to hold NHS organisations to account for the
development of skills for nurses and midwives;to develop
leadership fellowships for nurses and midwives to ensure that
leadership talent in nursing and midwifery is spotted and
nurtured; andto ensure that there are nationally funded clinical
academic training schemes to help nurses and midwives progress
into stimulating research careers.
Notes to Editors
The full response to the 20 recommendations in Frontline Care is
available at:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_125985.pdfFrontline
Care: The report of the former Prime Minister’s Commission on the
Future of Nursing and Midwifery in England was published on 2
March 2010 and is available at: http://bit.ly/g6RTbeFor media
enquiries only, please contact the Department of Health news desk
on 020 7210 5221. Members of the public should call 020 7210 4850.
Contacts:
Department of Health
Phone: 020 7210 5221
NDS.DH@coi.gsi.gov.uk