Editorial

Lansley wins respect but few friends at congress
Politicians' credibility is often judged by their readiness to give straight answers to straight questions. By this measure, health secretary Andrew Lansley did little to enhance his reputation when he took the stage at RCN congress in Harrogate this week.

Apathetic response to a potential crisis says it all
A survey by Nursing Standard showing a sharp fall in the number of nursing students being trained in the UK should have sent shockwaves through each country’s health ministry. Instead it has been greeted with an alarming level of indifference and complacency. Maybe those in power do not expect to be in office when the consequences of their cuts are being felt by patients.

We need more learning disabilities specialists
Learning disabilities nursing seems to be in a constant state of flux, with no one providing strategic leadership or offering direction on how the specialty should develop. Last week the UK’s four chief nursing of ficers attempted to fill this void by producing a 72-page report, the result of a review they have undertaken in recent months.

Commission could help shape a better workforce
The way nursing students are prepared for practice has been a hot topic for years. Debates about modern professional standards are usually characterised by vociferous arguments about whether students are leaving their courses with an appropriate mix of practical and academic skills.

A move to local pay would make no sense
The Department of Health has produced a 114-page document setting out the case for ‘market-facing pay’, or what most of us would still call local pay. It forms the department’s initial evidence to the independent review body’s discussions, requested by the government, on how the pay of Agenda for Change (AfC) staff can be made more sensitive to local markets.

Building resilience in the nursing workforce
As nurses, you routinely encounter things that the rest of society would rather forget about – terrible wounds, mental suffering, pain and distress, even death and dying. So how do you cope?

At last, a common sense approach to prescribing
Changes to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, laid before parliament just before the Easter recess last week, will make an enormous difference to patient care, and at the same time will allow highly skilled nurses - finally - to carry out their jobs to the very best of their capabilities.

Innovators achieve more than reforms ever will
As the NHS in England prepares for enormous structural change, Nursing Standard this week highlights the achievements of our nurse of the year, Johanne Tomlinson.

Osborne’s regional pay plans in tatters
Chancellor George Osborne seemed determined to force some form of regional pay bargaining on nurses and other NHS staff when he made his Autumn Statement to MPs a few months ago. Now his plans look to be in tatters after unions and employers told him the existing pay system, devised less than a decade ago, is perfectly fine as it is.

Many private providers exemplify bill’s pitfalls
Much of the discussion about the Health and Social Care Bill has centred on concerns that private sector providers will take over responsibility for providing core healthcare services. Opponents of the bill argue that private firms, motivated by profit, will be able to make money from caring for the sick.