Not a bad start to the week: meeting with the shadow health secretary. Possibly the highlight of the year, although IN has interviewed those at the helm of primary care nursing throughout 2014. I hope that it will be surpassed by a face-to-face with the health secretary, Mr Jeremy Hunt, next year. I wonder if he will bring me coffee.
It's been an eventful year for primary care nursing and IN. I look forward to all of us building on this in 2015. I am optimistic that it might be a year of significant change, not only for the primary care nursing profession, but for IN and the UK. Let's build on the good work and positive things that have happened this year to enhance the profile of primary care nursing. Jane Cummings commented on the BBC News last week over the way people with learning disabilities are treated. I watch a fair bit of the 10 o'clock news and this is the first time I've seen her give her view. This is just one example of how the nursing voice is finally being heard and considered important. The prime minister invited the country's top nurses to a reception at his place, and these things don't happen out of the blue. The country is beginning to hear and pay attention to the primary care voice.
The second strike this year took place recently. As English nurses on Agenda for Change are now the only ones not to receive the pay recommended by the NHS PRB it looks likely this issue will run and run. As the goodwill of nurses in secondary care is pushed to the limit, primary care nurses are becoming more important to the future of the NHS, regardless of who is in government.
Rita Som, editor, Independent Nurse