News

Those who fear a health takeover of social care should see nurses as allies rather than part of the threat, Royal College of Nursing general secretary Beverly Malone said this week.

She told a press conference at the congress that joint working was about putting the patient or client at the centre of the picture and taking account of their family context, culture and ethnicity.

"Then all this has to be brought together in a beautiful marriage between nursing and social care," she said.

But she added that she was concerned about the lack of communication between members of the multi-disciplinary team. "We all try to claim the patient as our own, but it shouldn't be about that."