London - Nurses may censure their new US leader

The controversial American leader of Britain's top nursing organisation may face censure over her management style and disclosures that her mother has received two operations on the NHS.

Dr Beverly Malone, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, who started her job a year ago, is the subject of a members' petition based on several concerns including plans to reorganise the college.

The petition calls on the college's council to explain the expenditure, accounts, governance and proposed restructuring of the college and she may face a vote of no confidence.

Dr Malone, formerly an adviser to Bill Clinton, is criticised over her high first-year salary package of £200,000, her attendance at a Labour fund-raising event, suspension of four senior college staff and her mother's surgery.

It is claimed that one operation took place within months of Dr Malone's mother, Dorothy Black, arriving in Britain to be with her daughter.

Peggy Pryer, of the Canterbury branch, who has mounted the petition, said Dr Malone's reorganisation plans raised worries about her management style.

"We are very concerned about what is going on within the RCN. She should be fighting for better nurses' pay."

Mrs Pryer said Dr Malone's attendance at a Labour Party fund-raising event made it appear as if she was "in bed with New Labour".

Criticising Dr Malone's mother receiving NHS treatment, she said: "We have people waiting for 18 months for cataract operations and Dr Malone's mother comes here and gets one when she had only been in the country for a few months."

The Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, denied any suggestion Mrs Black had jumped a queue. They had short waiting lists, on average of five months, for ophthalmology, a spokesman said.

"We can confirm that Dorothy Black was a patient at our hospital and was dealt with in an appropriate manner as an NHS patient." The trust had followed NHS guidelines on treating foreign nationals. People were entitled to NHS care if they were dependents of residents or seeking residency themselves.

Dame June Clark, a former president of the college, said she supported Dr Malone but believed she had made some errors of judgment.

"I will be signing the petition," said Dame June, professor of community nursing, University of Wales, Swansea.

"I believe the call for a general meeting should be to galvanise the council into taking some action. If there was an emergency general meeting, its purpose should be to provide some opportunity to get some of the concerns into the open and to clear the air.

"Dr Malone has a large amount of talent but I don't think she has read the runes correctly."

Dr Malone declined the invitation to comment yesterday. A college spokesman said full sets of accounts, including salaries, were available to members. Dr Malone had attended the Labour Party event as a guest, left before the dinner and made no donation. The college was politically impartial.

On concerns over Dr Malone's mother, she said: "Patient confidentiality must come first and should always be respected, regardless of who the patient is. Dr Malone's mother is living in Britain and has received treatment under normal guidelines."

The spokesman said an extraordinary general meeting can be held if 1,000 members call for one.

General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing -

Beverly Malone began her nursing career with a first degree in nursing from the University of Cincinnati in 1970. She combined further study with clinical practice and received her doctorate in clinical psychology in 1981.

Her career has mixed policy, education, administration and clinical practice. Dr Malone has worked as a surgical staff nurse, clinical nurse specialist, director of nursing and assistant administrator of nursing. During the 1980s she was Dean of the School of Nursing at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

In 1996 she was elected for two terms as President of the American Nurses Association (ANA), representing 180,000 nurses in the USA. In 2000 she became deputy assistant secretary for health within the US Department of Health and Human Services, the highest position so far held by any nurse in the US government.

Dr Malone became General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, the UK's largest professional union of nurses, in June 2001. The RCN has a membership of 340,000 nurses, midwives, health visitors, nursing students, cadets and health care assistants.

As General Secretary, Dr Malone is a member of the NHS Modernisation Board and the Economic and Social Research Council. Dr Malone has been appointed to the Advisory Panel for the Review of Management and Decision-making in NHS Scotland. She also represents the RCN at the pan-European nursing body, the Standing Committee of Nurses of the EU, the Commonwealth Nurses Federation and the International Council of Nurses. - Source

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