Independent Nurse: One in four PCTs fails to appoint nurse exec.

One in four PCTs (28 per cent) has yet to achieve a DoH target for at least one executive director of nursing on their governing boards, according to an RCN survey.

The worst region is the South West in which just 43 per cent of the PCTs have a nurse executive director with voting rights on the board.

Dr Peter Carter, RCN chief executive and general secretary, said: 'Nurses spend more time with patients than any other health professional, so it makes sense for them to be a key part of the decisions which impact on the care that patients receive.

'Nurses are often the first to identify where things are going wrong. By failing to give them …