Top Nurse Quits NHS
Nurse of the Year decides to quit NHS
Britain's ‘nurse of the year' is quitting the NHS in protest at the toll that constant Government reforms are having on front-line health staff. Justine Whitaker claimed ministers had failed to listen to nurses over the pace of change in the past seven years. She also claimed staff were asked to make savings by using fewer bandages and needles.
At the same time money was wasted on management meetings where no decisions were made. ‘We have a Government saying it is talking to nurses but it is not hearing what we are saying,' she told Nursing Standard Magazine.
Ms Whitaker, 36, who is leaving East Lancashire Primary Care Trust next month, won the Nursing Standard nurse of the year award in march for her work with cancer patients.
Nursing Standard Magazine: 16 October 2007