Topic > The Francis Report: A Guide to Accountability

In the late 2000s the Health Commission launched an investigation into Mid Staffordshire Hospital, England. Concerns arise due to hospitals' unusually high mortality rates. When Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust failed to provide an adequate explanation, the Health Commission launched a full-scale investigation. Years of unsatisfactory investigations eventually led to a full public inquiry, led by Robert Francis in 2010. The final report, published in 2013, is what has become known as The Francis Report. The Francis Report has become a driving force for driving change, guiding, shaping, funding and improving all aspects of healthcare and ensuring that people receive the support, care and treatment they need, with compassion, the respect and dignity they deserve. The outcome of the Francis Report means that the NHS is at a turning point in the way all Healthcare is delivered, as suggested by NHS employers: “28 of Robert Francis's QC recommendations concern changes to nursing regulation or delivery.” The Francis Report calls for more compassionate care, but also says stronger leadership is needed from all ward nursing managers. We also insist on a change regarding the evaluation and support system for nurses. This evaluation system is a means of evaluating the performance of nurses so that any deficiencies can be corrected through methods such as training and transfer. On the other hand, a positive evaluation should be rewarded with a promotion. Due to the aging population, the Francis report recommends the introduction of a new nurse status, the 'qualified elderly nurse'. One of the diseases linked to this is dementia and multiple factors relating to dementia are having an impact on the way nurses are trained and the provision of services. In 2013, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) launched a new development program to transform dementia care in hospitals. The aim is to develop skills and knowledge relating to dementia, the roles of all those involved, including the development of action plans which identify key changes. Another focal point of change is that over the years the demand for home and community care as opposed to hospital healthcare has continued to grow, as stated by the Queens nursing Institute “Recent healthcare policy highlights the importance of improving and extend services to meet the health and care needs of an increasingly older population and provide services that may have previously been provided in hospital within community settings”.