Letter

Seeing red over Pink

Dear healthmatters … As a charge nurse working in a situation similar to Graham Pink’s, the aspect of this affair (A right to be heard, issue 8) which most concerns me is the implication for the autonomy of nurses.

It is part of the nurses’ code of conduct drawn up by the national governing body (the UKCC) that we should bring situations which threaten patient safety and standards of care to the notice of the health authority.

It is lamentable that a health authority should be so remote from the central function of caring for the sick that an individual who tries to alert them to a problem is ignored. It is worse that when he tries to bring the matter to a broader public via an elected representative and the national paper which that representative contacts, the authority apparently searches out charges to bring against him.

One of the more constructive approaches to the situation has been that of Christine Hancock, general secretary of the RCN. She has set up a ‘Whistleblow’ service with a freepost address, enabling people in similar situations to voice their misgivings anonymously. The RCN will then take up cases on their behalf.

Provision of such a safety valve does not excuse health authorities if they act in ways which constitute an unacceptable attack on democracy. Such actions must not be allowed to be smoothed over and forgotten.