Richard emerging from his exhausting night shift at Watford General Hospital

NHS staff ‘inspirational’

System ‘too target-focussed’

Richard Harrington, recently put in a gruelling 10 hour night shift at Watford General Hospital.

Richard had previously asked the hospital’s chief executive if he could shadow doctors and nursing staff in order to give himself a valuable and first hand insight into what really happens in the Accident & Emergency and Acute Admissions Units.

Emerging from his close hand experience he had nothing but praise for those who work for the NHS, from nurses and junior doctors to senior consultants.

Dedication

“I was really impressed by what I saw and the dedication of frontline staff was inspirational. They took immense pride in what they did.”

However, Harrington said that despite their positive outlook, their work has hampered by ‘target culture’ where management’s needs to meet targets proved a distraction.

Too Many Targets

“The message I got was that the current system is too target focused. Staff are always worried about moving people to beds in the four hour limit which leads to constant bed juggling to fit people in. It becomes frustrating for them, as they often have to move people from A and E, who have nothing wrong with them medically, to an acute bed, thereby diverting the beds from those who really need it.

But overall Harrington was still upbeat about the NHS: “I really believe that the NHS is the best thing about this country.

NHS Top Priority

“David Cameron will make the NHS his top spending priority if he becomes Prime Minister.  If elected, our local NHS services will also be at the top of my agenda.”