College launches drive to improve patient dignity

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The RCN has launched a major campaign to get patient dignity placed at the heart of nursing care.

The college has called on the government to enshrine the right to 'dignified, compassionate care' in the new NHS Constitution.

It has also called on hospitals to adopt a new set of emergency care dignity principles, which set out minimum standards patients can expect when visiting A&E.

The college's campaign, called Dignity – at the heart of everything we do, was launched today at an RCN conference in London.

RCN general secretary Peter Carter said: 'We know that nurses desperately want to give patients high quality dignified, compassionate care but that sometimes there are too many obstacles in their way.

'Dignity is not just a top priority for nurses,' he said. 'We know this is something that patients also feel passionately about. That's why we have been working closely with patient groups, including the Patients Association and Help the Aged, and the government to ensure the public's concerns about dignity are being addressed head on.'

The government said last week that indicators for dignity would be included in a new set of quality measures specifically on nursing care – to be included in the forthcoming NHS Next Stage Review.

Read more on this story in next week's NT.