Today, The Times picks up, on the hundreds of complaints received in the wake of the report yeaterday, Catherine Bleasley writes that whilst Ian Birrell again writes in The Independent about the urgent need for reform. The comments attached to yesterday’s Telegraph story are the spur for another report in the paper today, and make for no happier reading than the Patients Association’s report.

There is a good cross-section of opinion: many defend the NHS whilst admitting the need for reforms; others take a wholly politicial view of the service, relating it to the current US debate. One issue that keeps coming out of the discussion, however, is that of nurse training. As we said yesterday, High Quality Care for All had much to say about the issue of education and early career training for nurses; but what more do we need to do?

The NHS will in the coming years need to prove both its quality and its cost-effectiveness. After years of investment, most analysts agree public spending will need to be squeezed. David Nicholson has said, rather than pausing the quality agenda, we will need to go further, faster in many areas, using quality to increase productivity, simultaneously improving services and reducing waste. The issues around basic standards of care revealed by the Patient Association’s report remind us that innovation is important but that so too are the basics: quality starts at the very simplest levels. The Royal College of Nursing are right to defend nurses against accusations of incompetence – most are of course superb professionals, and the NHS continues to provide world class care to most of our patients. As we go further and faster, however, and the quality agenda really picks up momentum, we must ensure – as a matter of priority – that basic standards continue to improve, and that we eliminate cases such as those in the Patients Association’s report.

How could you achieve that in your local area, and; how can we provide frameworks to help?