She said the information would help NHS bodies comply with equality legislation by “consistently collecting, only where relevant, personal details of patients such as race, sex and sexual orientation.” ‘Intrusive and offensive’ NHS England recommends health professionals – such as GPs and nurses – ask about a person’s sexual orientation at “every face to face contact with the patient, where no record of this data already exists”. But the Family Doctor Association said it was “potentially intrusive and offensive” for GPs to monitor people’s sexuality. Chairman Dr Peter Swinyard told the BBC that for older patients in particular, sexuality “doesn’t […]

A report earlier this year by the union found one in nine posts were vacant. Some 30,000 staff, including midwives and health care support workers from across the UK, took part in this new online research. The RCN described some of the stories as “desperately sad”. ‘Out of my depth’ Staff revealed how they had ended up parachuted into departments they were unfamiliar with to provide emergency cover at the last minute. For example, one nurse described how care had been compromised when cardiac nurses were sent to a stroke unit. Another nurse, who works on an elderly care ward, […]