Smile, nurse: NHS launches training courses to show they care

They will also be banned from discussing their personal lives outside break times, or talking too loudly at night when patients are trying to sleep.

And they will also be told not to say: "I'll be back in a minute", to avoid patients becoming frustrated if they fail to return.

The training scheme, which was welcomed by patients' groups, is being pioneered in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

It follows a report from Downing Street last year which said nurses should smile more to show patients they care about them.

Stockport hospital's deputy director of nursing Judith Morris said: "Patients and their families were fed up with hearing nurses say: 'Sorry, that is not my patient'. It is not good enough."

Mrs Morris told Nursing Standard magazine that staff had denied the allegations at first but once evidence was provided, nurses worked hard on making improvements.

Patients' groups said action was needed to address a perceived decline in the standard of nursing since the days when Matron ruled wards with a rod of iron.

The Patients' Association said people often complained that nurses do not have the caring touch they used to.

Many claim to be too busy to feed elderly patients properly, resulting in malnutrition, while others refuse to carry out cleaning tasks.

Michael Summers, of the Patients' Association, said: "Nurses work very hard and they are under a lot of pressure these days. But they may lose touch with some of the needs of patients when they are rushed off their feet.

"Nurses now do degree courses which are primarily academic, meaning many do not have the practical experience they need when they arrive on the ward. Many lack the day-to-day skills they need soon after they qualify.

"Any extra training is welcome to make sure nurses pay more attention to patients. It could have an effect on the better provision of food, and greater attention to diet.

"A lot of hospitals employ agency nurses who perhaps don't have the same attitude to patients as those who work every day."

The training course has reawakened memories of an initiative by Tony Blair during his final months of power.

Last March ministers discussed a proposal to encourage doctors and nurses to smile more.

The idea was put forward at a Cabinet meeting following a sixmonth Downing Street inquiry into how to improve the NHS.

But it was attacked by the Royal College of Nursing, which said it was insulting to suggest that nurses did not smile enough.

Spokesman Alison Kitson said: "I actually find this quite offensive. I'm sure every nurse in the NHS would find it offensive.

"It just shows that Whitehall is completely detached from the harsh reality of healthcare."

The plan was also ridiculed by opposition parties, with Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb saying Labour was trying to impose the values of McDonald's on the NHS.