Nurses to be rated on their kindness to patients

Every ward nursing team will be scored on a 'compassion index' and the results posted on the internet.

Staff will also get marks for how often they wash their hands, whether patients are well fed and kept informed of treatment and the number of falls and infections on the ward.

Patients will be able to use the scores to pick a hospital.

Smiling and putting patients at ease speeds their recovery, scientists say

The plan was announced by Health Secretary Alan Johnson yesterday as the NHS nears its 60th anniversary.

It follows criticism that too many nurses fail to treat patients with dignity, refuse to help elderly people eat or view cleaning as beneath them.

However, there are no plans to publish scores for individual nurses or to use them for calculating performance-related pay.

Mr Johnson said compassionate care from nurses is as crucial to the recovery of patients as the skills of surgeons.

'Our nurses do a brilliant job, often delivering very intimate care,' he told the NHS Confederation conference in Manchester.

'The personal touch is so important too. Patients want to be kept well-informed by staff and treated with compassion and sensitivity.'

He said nurses want to improve standards and added: 'Measuring quality against indicators such as dignity, respect and communication will help them achieve this.'

In April the Healthcare Commission watchdog uncovered thousands of examples of poor nursing care, from elderly patients being left to starve in soiled bedclothes to nurses being sharp and abrupt.

Critics say nurses spend too much time on academic courses, meaning many lack day-to-day skills previously needed qualify. And too many delegate personal care to healthcare assistants.

Charlotte Potter, of Help the Aged, said: 'Incidents of older people left in pain, ignored, or distressed by a lack of privacy in hospitals emerge with such frequency they cannot be dismissed as isolated cases.

'We welcome the recognition of the need to measure quality of nursing care.'

Mr Johnson said he would work with the Royal College of Nursing to develop three sets of standards for compassion, effectiveness and safety.

The RCN's backing is a welcome change to the derision with which they greeted previous plans to ask nurses to be more compassionate.

When a Downing Street report suggested nurses should smile more, the union described it as 'insulting' and 'offensive'.

 • Smiling and putting patients at ease speeds their recovery, scientists say.

But tension, anger and worry suppress the immune system and make people more vulnerable to infections.

Laughter and smiles make the body produce antibodies to protect against infection, reduce pain and can speed up recovery times.

American professor William Fry claims laughing up to 200 times a day does as much good for the heart as rowing for ten minutes.

A study at Indiana State University found it increased levels of endorphins - the body's natural painkillers - and lowered levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Laughter also reduces the symptoms of allergies such as hay fever.

Giggling has been shown to lower blood pressure and reduce inflammation and pain in people with arthritis.

Even fake smiles have been found to trigger the release of feel-good endorphins. Reassuring patients also has health benefits.

Research shows that people who are nervous, depressed or angry are three times more likely to fall sick.