Interview
A right to be heard
In an exclusive interview with healthmatters, charge nurse Graham Pink explains how his campaign to improve care for his patients began — and how it ended
When did you write your first letter about conditions on the wards?
That was 24th August 1989. I went straight to the top, and that got a few people’s backs up. As it happened the chairman was on holiday so it was opened by the district general manager, who came that night. He talked to me and seemed very concerned. Before he went away he said something will have to be done — those were his last words.
What did he do next?
I’ve never seen him since that night, which is nearly two years ago now.
What did you complain of in your letters?
Basically, the fact that on a 20-bedded geriatric ward in an acute hospital, the normal complement of staff for the whole night is one nurse and one auxiliary. If the two people are there all the time you can just about cope — but what happens at dinner time?
Has this caused problems?
Yes. One night I had three ladies on commodes at one go when I was on my own, at which point a very confused lady got out of bed and walked out — what was I to do ? As it happened I went out, left these ladies on commodes, one half in and out of bed, to try to bring this confused lady back in. The ward door swung to and I was on the corridor. The ward was abandoned.
Another time a lady of 84 had to defecate in the bed and lie in it for half an hour because she couldn’t get help — she’s crying and you’re treating her like a child of one or two years of age. Things like that I’ve found pretty revolting. I’d seen this sort of thing going on for the previous three years.
But isn’t there some emergency backup?
It’s not good enough. There are 23 wards in the hospital, one night nurse manager and about 3 or 4 night sisters. If they’re hard pressed they will say ‘we’ve got a baby dying in paediatrics, that comes first’. We had a case on a 20-bedded ward where I was on with an untrained auxiliary. I was called downstairs to another ward, leaving her on her own. One patient suddenly collapsed. The auxiliary phoned me and said, ‘Mr so-and-so in the corner, I think he’s dying’. I said, ‘I’m sorry, I just can’t come, you’ll just have to manage’. I rang the night sister but she arrived too late. The auxiliary had to stand helplessly and watch this man die. That’s dreadful.
What would you like to see done about the situation?
More staff, obviously. I have asked for two nurses and one auxiliary on a 20-bedded ward, and two nurses and two auxiliaries on a 26-bedded ward. Nursing Times got outside experts to look at the figures. They worked out that we needed not four people on these 26-bedded wards, but a minimum of six. I’m not asking for six, I’m asking for four. On the 20-bedded ward they said we needed a minimum of four — but I’m only asking for three. That’s what’s needed.
What else would you like to see come out of your stand?
I would like nurses to feel that they have a right to be heard and not to be threatened. The criticism put against me by management is ‘Mr Pink, you’re the only person that’s said anything’. But nurses are trained to cope and not to speak out of turn. Which nurse is going to pick up the phone and say ‘I’m not coping’ ? If you do you will be told, ‘Look nurse, if you can’t cope maybe you shouldn’t be here. Why don’t you resign and we’ll get someone else to do it?’
“Our code of conduct is not worth the paper it’s written on. It says that you should speak out, but when you do you get no support whatsoever”
Where I work 95% of the night staff are part-time, they come in for two nights a week. Nearly all of them are married. They need the money. Their first responsibility, and I accept that, is not to the patients but to their children and husbands. Three quarters of them came to me privately before I was suspended and congratulated me on what I was doing. Many of them have said they daren’t say anything because life would become intolerable. And it would — I know it would.
Has anybody in authority investigated your complaints?
No. There’s got to be an inquiry into how we care for elderly people. It should be at national level, and there also ought to be an inquiry in Stockport into the whole set up, and the way I’ve been crucified.
Crucified?
Yes. I’ve tried to follow nursing ethics and I’ve been punished for it. Our code of conduct is not worth the paper it’s written on. It says that you should speak out, but when you do you get no support whatsoever. Our professional body, the United Kingdom Central Council for Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors, is quite useless as well. I’ve written to them, I’ve asked for their support. But to be fair to them, they say they’ve got no legal powers to help.
Nobody in power seems to want or be able to help you. You must have known that this might happen. How do you respond to the criticism that you deliberately set out to become a martyr?
First, I should point out that it was not I who wrote to the Guardian, but Andrew Bennett MP — and that was after seven months of my writing to anybody I could think of, including then health minister Kenneth Clarke, and Mrs Thatcher. I only ever wanted the best for the patients. I have nothing to gain personally, nor have I gained anything. In the last 12 months I have had some very stressful times, and had to go through a wretched disciplinary process. I’ve spent just over £1,500 of my own money on typing, postage and phone calls. Management, to their credit, have always said they know that I am doing this purely for altruistic reasons.
The tragedy is that management have spent the last 12 months persecuting me. I’m only guessing, but it’s cost somewhere between £50,000 and £100,000 to do this. My wages alone for 12 months would cost them £20,000, and on top of that they’ve gone to so much other expense. For that sort of money they could have bought the nurses we wanted for three or four years.
Are you going to get your job back?
I don’t know, the appeal continues next week. My feeling is that they will move heaven and earth to avoid having me back on that ward. I think they may offer me a job in another hospital. Previously they offered me a job in the community. If that happens again I would then have to decide whether to accept it.
What will you do?
Nearly 8,000 people signed a petition to say I should be reinstated. A couple of friends and I went into Stockport every Saturday morning for about 3 months right from January through to April. We also got about 1,000 signatures from around the country. I would feel I was letting those people down if I didn’t insist that I was reinstated.
If I accept their offer of a job elsewhere I think it’s going to look to other people that I’m accepting a certain amount of guilt. There shouldn’t be any guilt. They have persecuted me unnecessarily and unfairly. All I want is fairness with justice. One thing I’ve not had so far is justice.
