Forum Chair Spring Letter
Published: 12 April 2013
Hello all
A lot has happened both nationally and with the steering committee since my last letter in January.
I'll start with the work of the steering committee. As you know the two key objectives that the committee set itself at its strategy meeting were to ensure that the long-awaited RCN position statement on district nursing got to publication and distribution, and for the forum – and district nursing as a whole had a higher profile at Congress this year.
RCN Position statement on district nursing
I am pleased to say that both have been achieved. Professor Ami David worked with the Steering Committee on the paper which was initially developed by former RCN Primary Care Adviser, Lynn Young. It has been a long road to this publication, taking nearly 12 months, but I hope you will all think it has been worth the wait.
The paper, which is on the website and called District Nursing – Harnessing the Potential, is aimed at community staff, managers, workforce planners and commissioners and is a tool to assist in strategic planning for the future of services.
My plea to all forum members is – please download or print off the document and give copies to your managers, Directors of Nursing and Directors of Quality and Commissioning so that they are well informed about the challenges facing the profession today. And of course, please share this with all your community colleagues.
Plus don’t forget your GP colleagues…many of who will now be holding the purse strings under their Clinical Commissioning Group remit. Your views on the position paper are greatly welcome so feel free to email me: Kay.durrant@nhs.net.
Congress
Forum events at Congress
Congress is nearly upon us and this year you will be pleased to know that the Steering Group has managed to have two fringe events accepted and one item for discussion. The first of the fringe events will take place on the Tuesday lunchtime and is entitled Can Quality be Measured in District Nursing? On the Thursday our second fringe event is Safeguarding an Everyday Event in Clinical Practice, a Community Perspective.
Look out for times and locations in the Congress programme and on flyers available on the day which will be around the arena area. I am sure you will agree that both topics are very relevant to district nurses and their work.
Matter for discussion at Congress
Up for discussion is whether district nursing is still relevant today. This discussion is intended to focus on whether the title "district nurse" is still needed and how can it be protected. This is item no 22 on the Congress agenda, so is likely to be debated late in the week. The steering committee is hoping to see many forum members attending or taking part in the discussion.
Tuesday evening meeting: innovation in district nursing
I would like also to invite all of you hoping to attend Congress to a forum members meeting on the Tuesday, early evening at 4.30pm. The meeting that we had last year was very successful and we would like to build on this in 2013. This year the topic is innovation in district nursing. We would like members to tell us and colleagues about new ideas shaping services across the UK. Again, please look out for the flyers about this which will tell you about the location. All community staff are welcome to attend…forum members or not.
We move forward after Congress to look at the remaining objectives which were linking in with the Queen’s Nursing Institute on specific work and also making the profession more high profile with the public. We are looking for new members for the Steering Committee this year – you will find more information on this website.
Francis report
Nationally of course, nursing has seen the Francis report and its recommendations about the Mid-Staffordshire public inquiry. It has made for highly uncomfortable reading for all of us. It does not feature any issues relating to community nursing, but this should not mean that district nursing services can take their eyes off of their own practice.
The pressures facing staff at Mid-Staffordshire may very well be found in many community nursing services, and staff need to be vigilent in ensuring that quality and safety of patients remain paramount. Like in acute settings, staff should be confident in using any whistleblowing policy available within their employing organisation.
A concern is that the focus has been and continues to be on hospitals and their problems and the recommendations therefore equally focus on the wards and departments. But this should not detract from similar issues to be found in the community. For example, staffing levels in district nursing teams need as much attention as those on wards. It should not need a Mid-Staffordshire type situation occurring in the community to galvanise recognition by the Department of Health (DH) that district nursing services are under as much pressure as any to be found in hospitals.
A new vision for district nursing
Finally, the Department of Health, NHS Commissioning Board and Queen's Nursing Institute document A new vision for District Nursing (DH 2013) was finally released.
Download Care in Local Communities: a New Vision and Model for District Nursing (PDF 1.15 MB).
An impressive document, it sets out far more clearly than any other document since First Assessment (Audit Commission 1999) what district nursing is all about. There have been some comments made that it has not gone far enough, in that it should have devised a new model for organisations to use as a template.
Many also expected a steer on upper limits of acceptable numbers on caseloads being set. This was not to be. It is hoped that further work being currently undertaken will fulfil these wishes.
I look forward to seeing you all at Congress. The steering committee will be wearing their pale blue "District nurses do it…in the home" T shirts! Do come over and say hello. For those who are not able to attend watch out for my summer letter to update you on how we put district nursing on the Congress agenda.