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Nurses call for more attention to patient dignity

27/04/2008

A survey of over 2,000 nurses by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has shown that 8 in ten of those polled were worried about patient dignity.

The report's release comes on the opening of the nurses' body's annual conference in Bournemouth.

Respondents in the poll raised a number of issues regarding hospital facilities which they said had prevented them from fulfilling their duty to patient care appropriately. Among these were concerns over mixed-sex wards, poorly fitted curtains and staff shortages.

Speaking to the BBC, RCN general secretary Peter Carter said: "Dignity should not be an afterthought or an optional extra.

"Each and every patient - whether they are in a hospital, a GP's surgery, in the community or in a care home - deserves to be treated with dignity and respect."

He also called for greater efforts to improve facilities at wards and to ensure that patients had their privacy.

Health secretary Alan Johnson is set to speak and answer questions during the RCN's four-day conference later this week.