Normalising the abnormal is no good

摘要

In August, Middleton (2016) raised the issue of honesty surrounding current nurse staffing levels in the NHS. She praised the public honesty shown by the respective chief executive officers of the NHS and NHS Improvement, specifically in relation to their frankness surrounding the current financial issues of the NHS. However, she criticised other senior leaders, questioning whether their resistance to acknowledge issues was down to a sense that 'saying it' (voicing the problem) confirms, therefore compounds, the issue. Middleton called for top-down honesty and leadership in both acknowledging the real challenges faced by frontline staff, and in galvanising the actions required to enable the provision of safe care. Also in the news, Lintern (2016) reported that: