A third of new nurses fail simple English and maths test
By Celia Hall, Medical Editor
(Filed: 05/08/2006  www.telegraph.co.uk/news )

A third of nurses expecting to graduate next month have failed a basic English
and maths test set by a hospital as part of a new selection process.
    
As nurses must be able to calculate drug doses and keep accurate notes, this
high failure rate has alarmed the hospital and the Nursing and Midwifery
Council.

The questions involve simple arithmetic and everyday comprehension. They will be
given to all nurses, physiotherapists, radiographers and clerical and other
workers seeking jobs with the East Kent NHS Hospitals Trust, in Canterbury.

Thirteen of 40 nurses completing training at Canterbury Christ Church University
-the first to take the 20-minute test - failed to achieve the 60 per cent pass
rate.

One question is: if a night shift starts at 8pm, is it the same as 18.00, 19.00,
20.00 or 21.00 hours? Another asks: how many minutes are there in half an hour?

The nurses are understood to be products of the British schools system.
Traditionally the hospital trust has drawn nurses from the university and most
have been training on the wards.

As the competition for jobs becomes fiercer, the test has been introduced as
part of the selection process.
    
The Nursing and Midwifery Council, which runs the nursing register, has become
worried about falling standards in education.

It announced yesterday that it had appointed HLSP, an independent organisation,
to run a new system to monitor educational standards at nursing schools. The
monitoring will start in the new academic year in October to "support public
safety".

The council also announced this week that it was raising the standards in the
English language test given to nurses from outside the European Union.

Julie Barton, the deputy director of nursing at the East Kent trust, said: "It
was surprising when we found out the number of people who had not reached the
mark of 60 per cent, especially as they have completed their training and had to
have GCSE English and maths to get on the course. We genuinely did not expect
problems but we will now have to sit down with Christ Church and see what these
results mean." She said the trust would look at what training and support it
could provide if a candidate had just missed the pass mark.

"But if they fail badly, it will affect their chances of getting a job," Miss
Barton said. "With all other things being equal, if two candidates are after one
position, the one who has done well in this test will be preferred. "We have a
responsibility to our patients to ensure that every member of staff caring for
them is trained to the necessary levels."

Miss Barton said that an integral part of the nursing code of conduct was
accurate record keeping and the safe administration of drugs.

Sarah Thewlis, the chief executive and registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery
Council, said: "It is essential that all nurses and midwives are able to
demonstrate that they have basic English and numeracy skills.

"The council has received anecdotal evidence from colleges and universities
suggesting that there is a worrying number of nursing students who lack such
basic skills."

Prof Margaret Andrews, the university's pro-vice chancellor and dean of the
faculty of health, said it would be inappropriate to comment on the appointment
criteria set by the hospital.

She said: "All students must have a minimum of five GCSEs, including maths and
English, for a place on the diploma in nursing and two A-levels at grade C for a
place on the BSc in nursing.

"Final year nursing students have undertaken a series of rigorous assessments
over the course of three years." All examination results are not yet in but the
university is confidently expecting a high pass rate.

The Daily Telegraph reported yesterday on the publication of a new compact
Oxford English Dictionary designed to help students to improve their basic
writing skills because levels of spelling and grammar are so poor among school
leavers.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/05/nhospital05.xml

and more still.............

The Times      August 18, 2006
Plan to build six new hospitals enrages those hit by cutbacks
By Nigel Hawkes, Health Editor

SIX new Private Finance Initiative hospitals will be approved by the Government
today, signalling its commitment to continue what it claims to be the largest
hospital building programme in the history of the NHS.

But the optimistic message will meet with fury from public health specialists
and training hospitals, which have been told to cut their budgets to hold down
NHS deficits.

Under the plans, Guy’s and St Thomas’ will lose £4.7 million, Bart’s and the
London £3.7 million, the Royal Free £2.1 million and St George’s £2.2 million,
for example.

The money will come from budgets set aside for education and training for this
year, which is already half over. “Lord knows how we are going to make these
kinds of cuts when the money is already committed,” one hospital manager said
yesterday.

“What a way to run a business!” said another in an exchange of e-mails across
the network of London teaching hospitals. The impression being given was that
the hospitals would not take the cuts lying down.

Public health spending has also been targeted, according to Health Service
Journal, which reported that the department’s plan is to set aside a £350
million “contingency fund” to help to bring the NHS back into financial balance.

This will come from money devolved to strategic health authorities (SHAs) this
year from central funds that were devoted to public health, medical education
and training, clinical excellence awards, performance-related pay for GPs and
services such as walk-in centres, out-of-hours services, and NHS Direct.

Public health specialists are furious. Professor Rod Griffiths, the president of
the Faculty of Public Health, told Health Service Journal: “I’m very
disappointed that something as important as this has been so clumsily managed.

“The overspends have not been caused by community medicine. It is poor
commissioning and poor management of acute services.”

The department is projecting a gross deficit for the NHS in this financial year
of £883 million, against £1.2 billion last year. It plans to offset this against
a £135 million surplus from primary care and acute trusts, £415 million from
savings by SHAs, and the £350 million contingency fund. That should achieve a
net surplus of £17 million.

But these problems will be brushed aside by ministers as they announce another
£1.5 billion for six new PFI hospitals to be built for University Hospitals
North Staffordshire, Tameside and Glossop NHS Trust, Salford Royal Hospitals,
Walsall Hospitals, South Devon Healthcare, and University Hospitals Leicester.

Andy Burnham, the Health Minister, said: “We are delighted to be able to give
the go-ahead for these new hospitals. This is great news for the hundreds of
thousands of patients who will benefit from the modern, bright new buildings.

“The new facilities will not only be the best in terms of design and quality,
but they will be affordable well into the future.”

The six hospitals will have far more single rooms than traditional NHS
hospitals, with up to half the beds in single rooms. The standard of
accommodation and facilities will be a big leap forward, the department said.
The first of the new hospitals will open in 2010.

The announcement means that since 1997, more than £10 billion will have been
committed to hospital building. A total of 76 schemes are open — 58 PFI and 18
built using public capital — and another 30 are under construction.

Andrew Lansley, the Shadow Health Secretary, said: “The reality is that the NHS
financial crisis has resulted in over 20,000 job losses in NHS hospitals, and
has raised the spectre of some of these hospitals closing.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2318418,00.html