Carry on matron; Inspectors find hospital standards are improved.Byline: By CARL BUTLER A HEALTH watchdog yesterday demanded more power for matrons. Conditions had improved at mid Wales Mid Wales is the name given to the area of Wales between North Wales and South Wales. It borders England via the Welsh Marches to the east and the Irish Sea via Cardigan Bay to the west (West Wales is to the south-west). hospitals since Powys Local Health Board became the first in Wales Wales, Welsh Cymru, western peninsula and political division (principality) of Great Britain (1991 pop. 2,798,200), 8,016 sq mi (20,761 sq km), west of England; politically united with England since 1536. The capital is Cardiff. to appoint matrons after 30 years. Each of its nine community hospitals now boasts one. An inspection by Montgomeryshire Community Health Council found standards had risen since matrons had returned. But CHC CHC Chicago Cubs CHC Community Health Center CHC Chestnut Hill College (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) CHC Congressional Hispanic Caucus CHC Community Health Council (UK National Health Service) chief officer John Howard For other persons of the same name, see John Howard (disambiguation). John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian politician and the 25th Prime Minister of Australia. said patients felt matrons needed even more power. "They were satisfied matrons were actually people the public could identify with and therefore far better than the previous situation where there were no matrons, only administrators"But from hospital visiting reports it seems they felt matrons were doing a good job but should be allowed more power. "For instance they should have power to authorise minor jobs, repairs and decoration and be able to say cleaning is not good enough." Although the matrons monitored ward cleanliness, Mr Howard said if a matron wanted improvements they would have to consult a "third party" responsible for the contract, probably be off-site. A matron, said Mr Howard, helped generate motivation and pride in the staff. "I know other trusts looked at this and were sceptical but from the patients' perspective it was a good thing," he said. One of the hospitals inspected by the CHC was Welshpool War Memorial Hospital where 43-year-old Lorna Luter took up the reins in October. She said: "We monitor the standards, although we're not so demanding when it comes to pillows being in a certain order and wheels of a bed pointing in a certain direction. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , we don't rule with a rod of iron now. "Times have changed, but the old standards of supervision, cleanliness, leading by example and influence are being maintained. "A modern day matron has a different role to play. We have administrative duties to perform and a budget to oversee that matrons from another era would not have had." She said feedback from patients during the last two weeks was positive CAPTION(S): Hattie Jacques in her Carry On guise, was the epitome of the old-style matron; Lorna Luter |
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