New NHS initiatives ‘to free up nurses’ time for care provision’

The government has announced a number of new measures designed to help nursing staff dedicate greater time and attention to upholding care quality standards.

Under the NHS Institute's Time to Care initiative, the Department of Health will be aiming to identify areas in which nurses' time is occupied by unnecessary bureaucracy and paperwork that is of no direct benefit to patients.

In its place, nurses will undertake hourly rounds to make sure that all patients are comfortable, while a number of new care standard tracking criteria will be introduced.

Other new measures to be rolled out include the introduction of a senior ward nurse with accountability for service quality, as well as a "friends and family test" to gauge whether nurses and patients had a good overall experience.

Health secretary Andrew Lansley said: "These initiatives will strengthen the focus on nurse leadership and openness about the quality of care."

Earlier this month, the government announced plans to increase NHS investment in telehealth, in order to make it easier to monitor patients being cared for at home.