Basildon chief nurse: staff did not raise failings

8 December 2009 | By Dave West

Unsafe conditions uncovered by inspections at Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals Foundation Trust should have been reported by staff, the trust’s nursing director has said.

Maggie Rogers told Nursing Times: “We rely on the staff and teams to escalate anything they are not happy with because they are essentially accountable.

“There is no doubt if somebody had escalated that level of hygiene deficit we would have acted on it.”

Ms Rogers said reporting the problems was a joint responsibility of clinical and facilities staff at all levels.

However, she acknowledged: “It has to be the board [that is responsible] and all our statements have acknowledged that.”

Ms Rogers claimed that problems reported by the Care Quality Commission – including blood-stained curtains, a lack of privacy for patients and equipment past its use-by date – did not reflect the trust as a whole. She added that said she had been working to increase nurse numbers for several years and hoped to fill all positions next year.

Nursing Times reported in July that the trust had recruited 15 nurses from south Asia because of problems recruiting. At the time a spokeswoman said retaining staff was difficult because Basildon is close to London, but has no London pay weighting.

Her comments came as the Nursing and Midwifery Council announced it was considering action against the trust’s nurses and nurse leaders.

The NMC will carry out an inspection at the trust later this week, which is only the second of its kind, and could also result in it being prevented from taking trainees.

The regulator said it has asked the CQC, health information firm Dr Foster and foundation regulator Monitor for their evidence “patient safety may have been compromised due to poor nursing or midwifery care”.

NMC chief executive and registrar Professor Dickon Weir-Hughes said it would then decide “what appropriate courses of action should be taken”. The NMC confirmed this could include fitness to practise cases.

The NMC said the only comparable intervention was an inspection at the North West London Hospitals Trust in 2005 which, prompted by a damning Healthcare Commission report on maternity services, resulted in trainees being removed.

A spokesman said: “What has alarmed us is that people from all levels have come to us [since the news reports] and said, ‘We have known there have been problems for months.’”

Readers' comments (19)

Anonymous | 8-Dec-2009 5:21 pm
What does this story tell us that "NMC considers action against nurses as trust admits 'embarrassing' care failures"
3 December, 2009 By Dave West didn't?

Looks like NT is either struggling for copy or trying to whip up a bit more hysteria.

See comment on the 3 Dec story before wasting you time with this one.
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Anonymous | 8-Dec-2009 10:20 pm
What type of leader will blame her staff withour clearly accepting personal responsability? Its a mess and it stinks. I would not want to work for basildon hospital if this is what happens when there are problmes
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Doug Langdon | 9-Dec-2009 11:29 am
This sounds a little bit like General Custer, saying that the massacre at the little big horn was the foot soldiers fault, for not reporting that there were an awful lot of indians in opposition.

Surely the Nursing Director and her line managers was making time to visit the clinical areas on a regular basis or was she caught up in the never ending bureacratic system that has seen so many problems remain unresolved.

Since General Management was introduced in the early 80's, and the Nursing Management structures dismantled, many nurses have seen standards fall, we seem to be getting report after report criticising basic requirements and failures, isn't it time that the government took back the responsibility for the standards of service
provided?

Perhaps the next government, be it David
or Gordon should re-introduce the original Thatcher policy which controlled the amount of money spent by authorities on non clinical management grades to 10% of their budget!

The NHS is now a complete beurocratic mess created by politicians who are determined to create as much confusion as they possibly can, as they continue the move towards privatisation which was started in 1980 by the Conservatives and has been continued by New Labour.

As for the NMC holding an investigation, is it really their responsibility to do this until an individual nurse has been identified and reported to them?

To the nursing staff, l would say make sure that you get your Union to stand up and protect your rights to be treated justly, don't take justice for granted.

Scapegoating is still a problem in the NHS.
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Anonymous | 9-Dec-2009 6:36 pm
I have a relative who is currently a patient in Basildon Hospital. Before the story broke I had a complaint going through the trust about the nursing care she has received. In the six weeks she has had the misfortune to be a patient in this hospital (on a total of four different wards) I have been disappointed in the poor nursing care she has received. The majority of nurses we are in contact with are rude and give the impression of being uncaring about their patient's welfare. My relative's broken skin and loss of weight are proof of this.

Before the nurses are judged, their leaders need to be held accountable as this type of behaviour demonstrates the poor culture which has impregnated Basildon Hospital
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Anonymous | 11-Dec-2009 1:25 pm
The concerns in this situation will have been raised time and time again by clinical staff, patients and caregivers. It is of great concern that these senior staff members do not take time to do a reality check on the services they are responsible for, they should watch and listen to what is actually happening to the patients.
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Anonymous | 12-Dec-2009 5:24 pm
Of course the chief nursing personnell will want to keep her job. No wonder she is blaming the nurses onthe floor.

Where was she? Does she do a walkabout on the floor or is she in her office putting more paperwork into progress so that the nurses make time to complete the various paperwork BUT NOT TIME FOR OUR PATIENTS and surroundings
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john wilson | 13-Dec-2009 8:46 am
That sounds like a blame someone else to me!

No wonder the place is useless with that kind of management
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Anonymous | 14-Dec-2009 11:00 am
It comes as no surprise that the NMC are now charging around looking for someone to blame for the problems at Basildon.

Rather than looking for ways to support the staff, and strategies to fix or prevent the issues, they are charging in mob handed after the horse has bolted, threatening to 'take action against the trust’s nurses and nurse leaders'.

If the NMC choose to punish rather than support, perhaps Professor Dickon Weir-Hughes could begin by looking at the board, since Maggie Rogers has said the responsibility also lies there. As an executive member of BH&R trust, Professor Dickon Weir-Hughes is ideally places to understand the responsibility Basildon and Thurrock university Trust has towards its staff to provide support and help. not just punish because it makes good headlines.

It seems a shames that nursing has a professional body who would rather punish than help, it makes nursing in the UK look unprofessional.
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Anonymous | 16-Dec-2009 9:58 am
Maggie Rodgers should be ashamed of herself and if she had any decency would resign. I have worked at the trust for 7 years now and would defend the care it delivers to the hilt, unlike Maggie who serves no purpose other than to destroy already despondant and demorilised staff. I didn't even know who she was until a month ago and she calls herself 'The Chief Nurse'. As 'The Chief' she should be supporting and guiding her staff and leading by example NOT using her dedicated nurses as scapegoats for her own inefficiencies.
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Anonymous | 16-Dec-2009 12:18 pm
I too work for the Trust, and like the previous person, would absolutely defend the care we give. I have worked for the trust for over 12 years and have NEVER SEEN this embarrasment of a "chief nurse" in my life, until about a month ago when, following the CQC visit, she was obviously terrified that she might somehow have to take an iota of responsibility for the hygiene standards, (seeing as she earns over a hundred grand a year). But no, my experience with her involved her slating the nurses and delivering possibly the most negative, contemptuous and patronising presentation i have heard in my life. How can she make a judgement about the standard of cleanliness, care or anything else when she never takes the trouble to come and see the wards for herself. She is an utter disgrace to the hardworking, dedicated and loyal nurses currently slogging their guts out at Basildon hospital, and being scapegoated for her incompetence
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John Hughes | 16-Dec-2009 4:15 pm
Nursing is truly the only profession that eats its young. Maggie Rogers does not except the responsibility that comes with a job that has such a huge salary. Has she acted in a way that promotes the publics confidence? No, but will she be investigated by the NMC? Of course not, they prefer to sweep it under the carpet.
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John Hughes | 17-Dec-2009 7:48 am
Nursing is truly the only profession that eats its young. Maggie Rogers does not except the responsibility that comes with a job that has such a huge salary. Has she acted in a way that promotes the publics confidence? No, but will she be investigated by the NMC? Of course not, they prefer to sweep it under the carpet.
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Anonymous | 17-Dec-2009 4:29 pm
Its a combination of problems. Where was this nurse sitting all day that she neevr noticed the blood on the curtains? Behind a desk. Where were the clinical leaders? Their Nurse Consultant was made redundant a few years ago in a cost saving measure... She didnt know what was going on because she didnt look, and she is trying to save her 120K salary. Where was the audit? Where was the incident reporting system? There were complaints- where was the CQC and its follow up?

The sad thing is... there is more of this out there everywhere, where patients are intimidated out of complaining, where staff is afraid to fill out incidents reports, and the end result is patient who suffer and staff who are too burned out to care.

I am glad the NMC is going in... but maybe every trust should look forward to an NMC inspection!
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Anonymous | 18-Dec-2009 12:18 pm
my collegue and I have worked at BTUH for 20 yrs and have never felt so demoralised since reading Maggie Rogers comments. The Nursing staff on our ward work tirelessly to maintain its high level oif cleanliness and pt care and to read this type of comment from "our leader" is absolutely discraceful!! When did she last step on to a ward, make herself known and show support to all the staff who work so hard to make BTUH the place it really is. In the 12 years I have worked here I have only ever seen her twice. Once was the other evening when I was going home after a very hard days work, having read this article and I for one had to stop myself from approaching her to question her comments. Both my collegue and I are amazed she hasnt had eggs thrown at her! Maybe its because half the people who work under her wouldnt even recognise her??

We think that she should either resign or hold a meeting for any BTUH employee to attend and justify her disgraceful comments and allow us to respond personally and to her face!
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Anonymous | 19-Dec-2009 7:59 am
You are so correct Maggie Rogers, its all our fault, tell you what, maybe you and the other big wigs should create a 50 page document for us lazy nurses to fill out every shift, involving hundreds of questions about whether the curtains are clean and every square inch of floor is immaculate! How degrading, this is whats wrong with Basildon Hospital, the £100k a year managers and chief who have no idea what its like to nurse these days. Maybe they should cut her wages by half and add it to our cleaning budget,our staff recruitment and the hundred other areas its needed to improve pt care.We have over 5 pts today who need 1 to 1 nursing as they could cause themselves harm,we have 6 staff on for 28 pts and apparently we cant AFFORD any 1 to 1 staff! Enjoy your xmas shopping Miss Rogers.
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Anonymous | 19-Dec-2009 10:52 pm
I feel very sorry for Maggie Rogers, like any animal backed into a corner, she has come out fighting.

The incredulous comments made in the above article only add fuel to the fire at Basildon Hospital and I would have to question the sanity in verbalising her views at a point when both trust and STAFF are very fragile. The problem Maggie is that in order to have open lines of communication, both parties have to be listening.

'Being better by far', the trusts internal slogan is difficult to achieve if the managment have forgotten one key element of reward and motivation of its staff.

Reward and Recognition plays a part in at least two areas
1 Employee Satisfaction – influencing retention and motivation

2 Performance Management – creating a workplace environment that provides positive reinforcement of behaviours necessary to achieve results, business goals and sucess

If however you choose to loose your staff in preformance audits and keep beating the dog with the big stick for long enough, eventually it gives up trying.
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Anonymous | 23-Dec-2009 11:40 pm
I am enraged about the comments of this so called nursing leader. Should she be reported to the NMC for letting her profession down? That is the question. The NMC have been into Basildon hospital, it will be very interesting to find out what the NMC say about the nursing leadership
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Anonymous | 5-Jan-2010 9:29 am
I worked at B&T for many years in a senior capacity and am very sad to read the various comments from the nurses. I agree that Maggie Rogers should resign; she will never gain the respect of her nursing staff now. How dreadful that she has worked at B&T for 6 years and one of the writers above has only seen her twice! It is HER responsibility to ensure that the hospital is clean and the nursing care is safe and of a high quality. She should be ashamed of herself for blaming others. The buck stops with you Maggie, no one else! Surely you have lines of communication with senior staff; you have deputies: do you never speak to them: do you have meetings with them? I suggest that you work on the floor at least once a month to avail yourself of what it is really like working in your hospital; it may earn you some respect although I fear that it is too late for you.
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Anonymous | 19-Jan-2010 5:34 pm
As a DoN (not at a Trust as big as Basildon granted), I can sympathise with Maggie Rogers - the role of a DoN is immense. It is true that much of my day-to-day routine is based in an office; creating board reports; defining training programmes; managing complaints; overseeing governance and Health & Safety issues; dealing with performance issues; liaising with medical staff, health authorities, PCT's and commissioners, but... There is never a day that goes by that I don't at some point check with my deputy, or the on-call clinical lead, or random ward sisters, to make sure that things are being managed as well as they can be.

I'm not a saint - I don't always get it right; I can't magic staff out of nowhere, and the tree in the car park is bare. I don't always know the answers, and I can't always solve problems immediately, but at least I have shown some interest and had a conversation with the staff that matter. At least I have been able to provide a different view on how to manage a patient problem, or given some advice on what to do when the nurse management system goes down - might not seem much but it does seem make a difference. I know all my senior nurses by first name (which surprised them initially when I took up the post) and I can talk to them about family life, children and other stuff outside of nursing - the human element I guess.

The point I'm trying to make is that the job is what you make it Maggie - I would really be dissapointed if I had been in post for 6 years and not managed to have met all the senior team - even in a big Trust like Basildon - there must have been opportunity and appropriate forums for all staff to have met the DoN at some point.

As a previous commentator has noted - respect and confidence in the executive team will be greatly dented by the DoN's comments - it will take an awful long time to repair the damage...
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