The NHS deals with over a million people in England every 36 hours, and 90% of these contacts take place in the community and in primary care.
That means that approximately 900,000 people are seen in their own homes, clinics or GP surgeries every 36 hours and that totals more than four million people every week.
This astonishing number highlights the critical importance of the community and primary care nursing services in meeting the health needs of our population. Working behind closed doors in people’s homes and in consultation rooms in GP surgeries, this fabulous group of nurses is by definition hidden from public view.
The publication of the GP Forward View in April 2016 highlights the importance of the nursing service in general practice and funding has been identified by NHS England to support the development of this critical part of the nursing profession over the next four years.
Health Education England (HEE) is exploring how newly qualified nurses and those returning to nursing can be attracted to work in general practice and the ways in which the skills of the existing primary care workforce can be developed, to meet the changing health needs profile of the populations they serve. This includes more nurses developing the advanced skills required to support independent prescribing.
The QNI and QNI Scotland are also working to enhance the existing NMC standards for the recordable specialist practice qualification of general practice nursing. These were last reviewed in 1994 and it may be argued that they do not reflect the complexity of nursing care required in the general practice setting. The QNI/QNIS voluntary standards will reflect the expectations of the nurse working in general practice at the specialist level and will be published at the start of 2017.
It is an exciting time to be a general practice nurse. As the QNI report (2016) showed, it is an area of practice which provides immense personal and professional satisfaction. I cannot think of another autonomous nursing role where health promotion, protection and prevention is balanced with clinical interventions at every stage of the life course and for every member of the general practice community.
Crystal Oldman, chief executive, Queen’s Nursing Institute