Nurses are to be scored on how compassionate they are towards patients as part of a government plan to improve quality in the NHS to be unveiled in the runup to the 60th anniversary of the health service next month, the Guardian can reveal.
The health secretary, Alan Johnson, wants the performance of every nursing team in every ward across England to be measured, with the results published on an official website.
He believes putting a smile on the face of nurses and encouraging empathetic care is as important to recovery as the skill of doctors in the operating theatre. The proposal is to be announced in Manchester today at the annual conference of the NHS Confederation, the organisation representing NHS managers and trusts.
In an interview with the Guardian, Johnson said it was the first of several initiatives that will emerge from a review of the NHS that the prime minister commissioned from Lord Darzi, the cancer surgeon and health minister. Darzi's conclusions are due to be published a few days before the anniversary on July 5.
The compassion index will be compiled by health regulators using surveys of patients' views while in hospital, including feedback about the attitude of staff. It will also measure standards of nutritional care, minimisation of pain, hand-washing, and safety on the wards. Johnson said he wanted to promote friendly rivalry between wards over which nursing team could achieve the highest score. Trusts might decide to offer a reward to the top nursing team, but that would be a matter for local management.
The government wants to publish each trust's overall nursing quality score, to inform patients when they are choosing where to be treated. The scheme will be piloted and first results are likely to emerge next year.
Johnson claimed strong support from the Royal College of Nursing and Unison, the biggest of the health unions. He said: "What nurses tell us is that you can have the best surgeon in the world, who carries out the most terrific operation on you, but your stay in hospital won't be satisfactory if you don't get a high level of compassion and care ... If your experience involves nurses looking grumpy, or someone being rude, or not getting people there when you need them, then it ruins the whole experience. The NHS is so effective because in the majority of cases that care and compassion, that smile, that welcoming atmosphere, that ambience is there all the time. But the nurses don't get the recognition for this that they deserve." Johnson said he does not want to publish scores for individual nurses and he has no plans to use them as a basis for calculating performance pay.
Peter Carter, the RCN general secretary, said: "We think measuring nursing quality is an extremely good idea. It is difficult and has not been done before. But it can open nurses' performance up to real scrutiny, instead of people relying on anecdote."
Carter said patients had a feelgood factor when they were discharged from hospital and tended to be grateful and complimentary. He said the RCN would work with the government to establish a scientific measure of compassion and quality.