'Dignity, responsibility, patient involvement and safety awareness should form the solid foundation for good nursing practice'

Along with patients and the public, many readers contributed to the consultation that led to “Front Line Care”, the report by the prime minister’s commission on the future of nursing and midwifery in England.

The report was commissioned by the previous administration and published in March 2010, and I am pleased that health minister Anne Milton recently published the government’s response at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Congress in Liverpool.

Since the original report was published, the “Principles of Nursing Practice” have been launched. These were developed in partnership with the RCN and the Nursing and Midwifery Council. The eight core principles set the direction for nursing and midwifery, in the context of “Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS”, and form the basis of the DH’s response to the commission’s recommendations.

The principles set out clearly that dignity, responsibility, patient involvement and safety awareness should form the solid foundation for good nursing practice. The response to the 20 recommendations made by the commission include support for the pledge to deliver high quality care, addressing the contribution of nurses and midwives and their freedom to manage, commission and run their own services.

International Nurses Day on 12 May gives us all an opportunity to reinforce this pledge to society, marking and celebrating local initiatives where nurses are demonstrating the benefits of their involvement in promoting health and wellbeing, and commissioning and shaping services.

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