Old school nurse goes back on the wards after hospital ordeal

Jul 6 2008 By Marion Scott

A VETERAN nurse who attacked standards in the modern NHS after four days in hospital has returned to confront the staff she accused of delivering sloppy, dangerous care.

We revealed last week how Beth McLaren, the former head of the Royal College of Nursing, was horrified by what she encountered during her time in St John's Hospital, Livingston.

But she returned on Friday after nurses invited her back to the wards and asked her to lecture staff across NHS Lothian on old-school standards as the service celebrates its 60th birthday.

NHS Lothian chief nurse Catriona Rostrom and associate nursing director Libby Campbell led Beth's tour.

The 79-year-old - a teenage trainee when the NHS began in 1948 - admitted she was impressed with the standards in cardiac ward 24, where charge nurse Fiona Low, 41, proudly showed dozens of certificates for cleanliness.

But the eagle-eyed veteran was horrified when she saw two fully-gowned male theatre staff in their "greens" walking into the public cafe and ordering coffees, sandwiches and buns.

She believes wearing uniforms outside wards increases risk of infection.

Beth, who was awarded the OBE for her services to nursing in 1979, said: "I was ready for a few uncomfortable words when I confronted Catriona and Libby about my care at St John's. Instead, I found two highly-professional women who were very much of the old school.

"They were every bit as angry as I was that the care I'd been given was not up to the standards they expect of their team.

"They have a heavy load on their shoulders, perhaps too much. They have seven hospitals to look after, thousands of patients a year. But if their staff do as these women expect them to, we'll have a healthy NHS for years to come.

"What worries me is what happens when us old school all die off?"

Catriona said: "When my team saw what Beth had to say about her care here, they were very disappointed and upset.

"But we have all learned a very valuable lesson by sitting together to talk about what went wrong and what we can do to ensure we are providing the very best care we can." Libby was also angry at the sight of uniformed staff in the canteen.

She said: "Theatre staff in their greens should not go outside the theatre unless they are wearing protective white coats and they change their footwear. Those two let the rest of us down.

"Even though we trained many years apart, it was striking how Beth's values, mine and those of even the youngest nurses at St John's remain unchanged.

"All of us are motivated by the core values of the NHS to deliver the best for every patient.

"Beth was able to tell us a great deal about her experiences and approach which I'm sure will be of enormous value."

Beth, who was admitted to St John's on June 9 after collapsing because of a salt imbalance, had complained about filthy wards, uncaring nurses, being made to feel a "bloody inconvenience" and being discharged while unable to walk and with no support package.

She said: "The treatment I got made me feel ashamed of the profession I'd spent my whole life championing."

But after being given a list of promises from Catriona and Libby, she said: "They might be from a different generation but, likeme, they adhere to the nursing basics - care, compassion and cleanliness.

"With two no-nonsense women like these at the helm, there's no reason why the mistakes that were made in my care should ever have happened."

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