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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Award-winning nurse to quit NHS | Award-winning nurse to quit NHS |
| (about 6 hours later) | |
| A woman who won the title Nurse of the Year from a magazine is to leave the NHS because she is fed up with cuts and reforms. | |
| Justine Whitaker won the award in February after inventing a special pouch to help men with prostate cancer. | Justine Whitaker won the award in February after inventing a special pouch to help men with prostate cancer. |
| The 36-year-old from the Ribble Valley is to leave East Lancashire NHS Primary Care Trust (PCT) at the end of next month to become a university lecturer. | |
| She said she was leaving because of the "constant pressures with bureaucracy." | She said she was leaving because of the "constant pressures with bureaucracy." |
| Ms Whitaker currently works as a lymphoedema clinical nurse specialist at East Lancashire Hospice in Blackburn. | Ms Whitaker currently works as a lymphoedema clinical nurse specialist at East Lancashire Hospice in Blackburn. |
| As a nurse I just want to nurse, I want to look after patients Justine Whitaker | As a nurse I just want to nurse, I want to look after patients Justine Whitaker |
| She is set to take up a new post as a senior lecturer in lymphoedema, or the swelling of tissue, at the University of Central Lancashire (Uclan). | She is set to take up a new post as a senior lecturer in lymphoedema, or the swelling of tissue, at the University of Central Lancashire (Uclan). |
| She said: "I want to leave while I'm still useful and I can still nurse before I get ground down with it all. | She said: "I want to leave while I'm still useful and I can still nurse before I get ground down with it all. |
| "As a nurse I just want to nurse, I want to look after patients. | "As a nurse I just want to nurse, I want to look after patients. |
| "All these reports we have to write mean we have to sit at a desk and do this, and not sit with a patient. | "All these reports we have to write mean we have to sit at a desk and do this, and not sit with a patient. |
| "I got the point now where if I stay I won't be pro-active in my work. | "I got the point now where if I stay I won't be pro-active in my work. |
| "I have decided to work as a lecturer so I can pass on my skills to a new generation." | "I have decided to work as a lecturer so I can pass on my skills to a new generation." |
| 'National picture' | 'National picture' |
| She said it was nothing to do with the trust she worked for but that it was more of a national picture. | She said it was nothing to do with the trust she worked for but that it was more of a national picture. |
| She said she understood the need for taxpayer cash to be spent carefully but said cuts were being made in the wrong places. | She said she understood the need for taxpayer cash to be spent carefully but said cuts were being made in the wrong places. |
| She explained: "Sitting in meetings we are constantly being told: 'We're going for this cheaper option with this bandage; we're going for that cheaper option with that dressing; we need to be mindful of resources; we need to watch what we are spending'. | |
| "I'm absolutely fine with that - I run my household like that - but what I see as a waste of resources is when I'm sitting in a big meeting, and as a clinician I am the cheapest person there at £35,000 a year, and decisions are still being put off to another meeting. | |
| "There are hours and hours of managerial meetings that don't deliver anything at the end of the day." | "There are hours and hours of managerial meetings that don't deliver anything at the end of the day." |
| Ms Whitaker worked at a local hospice (Pic: East Lancashire Hospice) | |
| Through her work in Lancashire, Ms Whitaker developed a pouch to help prostate cancer patients which has become known as the Whitaker pouch. At first she fashioned the compression pouches, which help men who suffer from swollen scrotums. | |
| But her idea has since been recognised by the medical industry and the products are now mass-produced and used around the world. | But her idea has since been recognised by the medical industry and the products are now mass-produced and used around the world. |
| A Department of Health spokesman said it understood that staff morale may be damaged due to changes in working practices. | |
| "Nurses have played a vital role in transforming patient care. The results are impressive but this has meant a lot of change in a short space of time, " he said. | |
| 'Too much change' | |
| "The health secretary has acknowledged that too much change can affect morale and that this has to change. | |
| "Rather than issuing top down instructions, we want to listen to nurses so together we can plan for the next decade and provide a health service that meets everyone's needs. | |
| "That's why Lord Darzi is leading an unprecedented process of talking and listening to staff and patients, and he has appointed 72 clinical leads to go out to speak to staff and patients locally." | |
| The East Lancashire PCT said: "We are saddened to see Justine leaving. | |
| "She has been a valuable member of the team and made a major contribution to the welfare of patients in her care. | |
| "However, for her own reasons, she now feels it's time to move on and contribute in a different way, through lecturing and running her own business." |