Protect and respect our nurses - they are good for our health !

Attended a Royal College of Nursing Question Time meeting at Bronglais Hospital, Aberystwyth last night.
There's one thing about nurses which I have discovered since being elected and that is that as far as these kinds of meetings are concerned, they are by far the best group of communicators you could wish to have. They listen, they probe, and by their very nature as advocates for patients they care deeply about what they do and have no time or inclination to get involved in political point scoring. More to the point, before you leave, they make damn sure that you are aware of all the issues you should be aware of.

Bronglais is my local hospital and about six weeks ago my seventy seven year old dad was rushed in there as an emergency. After a ten day sojourn, he is now home again and doing well. During the time that he was a patient on Iorwerth Ward, I came to see how robustly our nurses defend the NHS and how on a daily basis, they do battle with a lack of resources and equipment as well as poor communication between various tiers and departments. They are constantly threatened by the fact that Trust deficits means freezing recruitment and job losses and most of them work more hours than they are paid for.

Two years ago, I spent a day at work with a wonderful district nurse from Aberdare called Ros Little. It was both a humbling and an inspiring experience - every politician should do it. Community nursing is a very special vocation in itself.
Unsocial hours may be par for the course, but what we often forget are the hours that these individuals put into the job which are unpaid which involve going the extra mile for the patient. This can involve calling in at the local shop to get bread and milk for someone who is housebound, or checking that the ten year old daughter of a terminally ill patient is coping emotionally and even arranging the funeral of a patient who has died who had no family or friends.
These were some of the things which I experienced with Ros and her colleagues on my day out in Aberdare. They touched me deeply and left a lasting impression.

That is why it is an absolute outrage to even consider reconfiguration or relocation of core NHS facilities and services before there is adequate provision at primary care level in the community.

The RCN have pointed out that here in Mid & West Wales, no extra training or recruitment has been undertaken to increase the number of community nurses and those who specialise in palliative care.
We have a chronic shortage of nursing and residential care home beds exacerbating bed blocking and yet all around us, we are seeing community hospitals closing wards whilst inexpert Local Health Boards trumpet the message that we should be building a network of community hospitals to deliver primary care services.

A year or so ago it was a Welsh Conservative motion which was supported by the whole Assembly which called for nurse-led walk-in centres to be established in Wales which would relieve pressures on out of hours services and accident & emergency units.

Where are they ? When is this going to be implemented ?

We should also trust our nurses to be able to prescribe independently as happens in England. The Health Minister made encouraging noises about that last year - but once again, there has been no further development. This so-called 'can-do' government stifles innovation and has stopped listening to the health practitioners involved at the sharp end. Similarly, they are demoralising our nursing workforce by failing to fully implement the 'Agenda for Change' terms and conditions.

One thing is clear, I will continue to fight for my local hospital and all of the others faced with threats and cuts in my region. I have no illusions about who I am here to serve. I am proud that I was present in the Chamber on Wednesday to vote for the second amendment in the NHS reconfiguration debate which would have called for a halt to a reconfiguration process in my area which has been ill-researched and is lightweight in terms of outcomes on treatment for patients.

Moreover, it was refreshing to note that the Labour candidate at the RCN Question Time totally agreed with me that the 'Designed to Deliver Consultation document' was fundamentally flawed from the outset - something which the health minister (who is a medical doctor) has never done.