08.10.12
£140m nurses’ fund announced
The Government is spending £140m to try to cut bureaucracy faced by nurses, including a £100m fund from which hospitals can borrow to fund new IT systems and devices to increase efficiency.
Hospitals will have to repay a proportion of the money, dependent on their performance in patient care and feedback from patients.
Prime Minister David Cameron made the announcement ahead of the Conservative party conference during a visit to the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford. He stated that the funding will be used to ensure that “brilliant” nurses can get access to the latest software so they can spend “even more time at the bedside.”
A further £40m is being spent on training an extra 10,000 nurses and midwives over the next two years.
It follows a Royal College of Physicians report which stated that patients were “medical conditions” to medical staff rather than people with emotional needs. Better use of technology can free up nurses’ time to spend with people, ministers hope.
Cameron also announced that cancer patients will benefit from a £15m cancer radiotherapy innovation fund.
Louise Silverton, director for midwifery for the Royal College of Nursing, said: “We welcome any money if it genuinely reaches frontline midwives and which would enhance their skills, services and professional development and improve the quality of maternity care for mothers and babies.”
A No 10 source told the Telegraph, of the money hospitals would have to pay back: “How large that proportion is will depend on how good their services are, according to feedback from patients and the public. Funding will go hand in hand with results.”
Tell us what you think – have your say below or email us directly at [email protected]