[Margaret Pilkington]

The management structure when Matrons were in charge was VASTLY different......the Government have brought in what they call 'Modern Matrons'......this is just a bit of window dressing because the general population think that hospitals were run better when Matrons were in place.......so the government decreed that Matrons should return, but in truth they have very little in the way of real power.

Everything Lettie says is true...... and a lot of the fault lies with political tinkering that doesn't address the real problems.......changes in the Education system of training Nurses.......there used to be droves of students on the wards......and believe me a lot of the work those students did was cleaning....... and you did it with a good heart and you did it well because the next patient to use whatever it was you were cleaning could be one of your own family. Students are educated in Universities now and do not want to know about the menial tasks....... they might be menial but they are important.

I can recall being a student and we were never anything other than busy......if not with patients then we were allocated a tin of Chemico and sent to the sluice to clean and shine the stainless steel bedpans.....and sputum pots......OK today those are made of paper and are much more hygienic.....but what I'm getting at is that the problems within the NHS are down to lack of manpower where the patients are.......to few people with too much to do......too much paperwork and red tape.......too many targets set by people who don't know what they are talking about........all the high powered managers in the world will not improve the situation...........and these are the folk who are getting the chunky paypackets......not the nurses. And this all brought about by political spin.