Prime Minister's Commission aims to put nurses 'at the heart of world-class NHS'

The Prime Minister’s Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery explicitly aims to help put nurses in control of services and the direction of policy. It is a recognition of the government¹s belief that nursing is the most ‘forward thinking’ group of healthcare professionals.

‘We are in the market for new and bold ideas’, said a government source.

The Prime Minister told Nursing Times: ‘Nursing has been central to the transformation in standards of care in the NHS over recent years. We must be bold in putting nursing in control and at the heart of our plans for a world-class NHS.’

The commission will be chaired by health minister Ann Keen. Commissioners include Anne-Marie Rafferty, dean/head of the Florence Nightingale School for Nursing and Midwifery, King’s College London, Gail Adams, Unison’s head of health, RCN general secretary Peter Carter and Dame Christine Beasley, chief nursing officer for England.

The commission is due to cover all branches of the profession, including health visitors, mental health and paediatric nurses. It will deliver its final report to the Prime Minister in early 2010.

It is hoped that some of the recommendations can be implemented immediately with the rest shaping proposals for a fourth labour term.

The genesis of the commission was health minister Lord Darzi’s NHS Next Stage Review, which government sources said highlighted the ‘centrality of nursing’ to improving care. The commission is closely modelled on the Darzi review.

The government believes the commission will constitute the most thorough review of nursing since the 1972 Briggs Report, which had a significant impact on nursing education.

The commission¹s terms of reference instruct that it should identify the competencies, skills and support that frontline nurses and midwives need to take a central role in the design and delivery of 21st century services.It adds that the commission must identify any barriers that impede the pivotal role played by ward sisters, charge nurses and community team leaders.

A key area for the commission will be how nurses can challenge the status quo in primary care ­ in which nurses deliver much of the care, but most of the control and financial reward lies with GPs.

The commission will also review the opportunities created by the recession to attract high-quality recruits. This will not only focus on younger people, but also on those in their 40s or 50s whose life experience might be a good preparation for a nursing career.

Commission chair Ann Keen said she felt very privileged to lead the review.

She added that its creation demonstrated how ‘the Prime Minister’s heart was in the health service’. She said the last 10 years had seen many nurses becoming ‘autonomous practitioners’, but that this change should be taken further.

She said there were numerous examples of nurses having transformed care ­ such as work with the homeless, addicted patients and young mothers, or in avoiding acute care admissions through primary care intervention. She wanted the commission to build on these and other examples.

Asked about the barriers to progress, she singled out the professional tribalism that beset the NHS. ‘We need to get that all out on the table,’ she said.

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