aitch, I'm afraid your posts are being 'misinterpreted' because they are peppered with words like fuckwit, thick, twit, power grabbing, etc. Your tone is bullying. You told me:
'we're telling you on here you should be falling all over yourself this information and bringing it up at your next practice meeting'
'just raise it at your next meeting. and try not to let your colleagues chortle and snort that haw haw if that's all they've got to worry about. try to make them take it seriously....'
Who are you to tell me what I should or shouldn't prioritise at 'my next' practice meeting/ departmental meeting? How do you know what other issues need to be raised? Even if you are right that this is an important issue (and communication with patients IN GENERAL undoubtedly is), it is bullying to try to dictate when you know nothing about the other issues that may need to be raised.
Snapple, thx for clarifying that. I take my remark back!
I have actually had a chance to look at your document now. It does not want make me want to run off to a practice meeting and show it to my colleagues at all. I actually makes me quite sad and cross. It really shows, I'm afraid, that some of you completely fail to understand the state that the NHS is in if you think this is a very important document (relatively speaking). It is a document from one NHS trust (not a national one) but there are probably other trusts producing similar documents up and down the country. It is written by a 'patient and public involvement manager' who probably gets paid a fairly generous salary. I expect there are a large number of other managers at that trust with similarly vague names. Infact, there are now more managers working for NHS trusts than there are clinical staff. It shows a set of guidelines instructing staff how to address patients by their full name, followed by their name of choice. It also mentions satisfaction surveys to check whether staff have followed these guidelines. How much do you think all of this has cost the taxpayer- managers salary, secretary, junior manager, office, production of survey, distribution of surveys, etc? I think this is a SHOCKING waste of money in a CASH STRAPPED NHS. This is exactly why other posters have talked of priorities. Of course, we should aim for excellence. Of course patients should be treated with dignity and respect. Of course staff should be trained in communication skills. No one has disputed that! Yes, there are plenty of things wrong with the NHS and sometimes the way they are dealt with is poor. Yes, the hierachical system should be replaced. But I would rather (yes, we DO have to ration and make choices in the NHS) see taxpayer's money spent on ensuring that patients have very high quality clinical care. I would RATHER it was spent on expensive treatment for oncology patients so that all have access to the best, on ensuring that all the beds on SCBU can be open because the unit is well staffed by expert nurses, that staff are well treated and retained by the trust which in itself ensures far better quality of care for patients. The government and managers have been squandering NHS money on so many things, (private sector involvement being one example). The government have different priorities to the clinician in the NHS. They want short term gain and catchy headlines so that they can get voted back in. They set targets which the managers jump at otherwise they don't get their bonuses and the trust gets less money. The managers then put pressure on the clinicians and even fabricate results to make it look as if targets are met in some instances. Of course it is good to have targets and to analyse and audit performance but the government (and their advisors) are not necessarily the right people to set them. I fear that the NHS will not exist by the time our children are mothers and fathers and that will be sad.
Rant over.......
Back to the OP- the nurse was rude to persist in calling you mum. I can understand that some people find this v patronising. Others don't. I will discuss this issue with some of my colleagues (when I have a chance). You all deserve to be treated with respect when you attend with your children.
Calling people by the preferred title, however, is NOT a top priority in the NHS. Some of the posters at the start of this thread grasped that but others of you just haven't!!