Analysis Of Chris Mullen's Article 'Agenda For Change'
In this essay I will be summarising an article by Chris Mullen, a former Director of Nursing Services in the NHS who is now an independent consultant and coach, where she discusses aspects of the Cavendish Report. The main reference point I have used is Mullen’s own report. (Mullen, C (2013) ‘Cavendish: what is the prospect for genuine change?’, British Journal of Healthcare Assistants, vol. 7, no. 10, pp. 500-1).
The Cavendish Report followed on from the Francis Report into the failures at the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust in 2013. The author is Camilla Cavendish, a journalist whose main topic area is health. There are several recommendations for improvement. It refers particularly to the Healthcare Assistant (HCA) role, which will be the main focus of this essay. Although much of what the report said was not new, it did include some examples of good practice, and there were several recommendations for change. Many similar recommendations have been made over the years and have not led to change.
One recommendation in Cavendish was to reduce the number of job titles. Mullen agrees. They have grown vastly over the years, and can be confusing. Mullen had contributed to the ‘Agenda for Change’ consultation in 2004, suggesting three titles for support staff: …show more content…
Regardless of who manages them, a main recommendation was that of training for HCAs across both health and social care. Alongside this is the issue of appraisals for support staff. If appraisals are not carried out regularly, then staff cannot gauge their performance, and training and development needs cannot be identified. The UNISON union found a number of staff had few or no appraisals. Mullen suspects it is inconsistent. If appraisals were carried out regularly, relationships between staff and managers would
The Cavendish Report followed on from the Francis Report into the failures at the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust in 2013. The author is Camilla Cavendish, a journalist whose main topic area is health. There are several recommendations for improvement. It refers particularly to the Healthcare Assistant (HCA) role, which will be the main focus of this essay. Although much of what the report said was not new, it did include some examples of good practice, and there were several recommendations for change. Many similar recommendations have been made over the years and have not led to change.
One recommendation in Cavendish was to reduce the number of job titles. Mullen agrees. They have grown vastly over the years, and can be confusing. Mullen had contributed to the ‘Agenda for Change’ consultation in 2004, suggesting three titles for support staff: …show more content…
Regardless of who manages them, a main recommendation was that of training for HCAs across both health and social care. Alongside this is the issue of appraisals for support staff. If appraisals are not carried out regularly, then staff cannot gauge their performance, and training and development needs cannot be identified. The UNISON union found a number of staff had few or no appraisals. Mullen suspects it is inconsistent. If appraisals were carried out regularly, relationships between staff and managers would