Valuing the district nursing workforce

All nurses—indeed, the whole healthcare workforce—have been crucial to the UK pandemic response, but the contribution of district nursing services has perhaps been less visible than others. This, in part, is due to the media bias towards hospital services over community-based provision, and television dramas that focus on more dramatic healthcare settings to garner high viewer numbers. However, most healthcare takes place in the home, with the support of primary healthcare and other care and support resources in the community, including district nurses.

The recently published Queen Nursing Institute's (QNI) (2021a) report, Untapped Potential: District Nursing Services and the Avoidance of Unplanned Admission to Hospital, not only celebrates the capabilities of district nurses, but also makes the case for their greater use to avoid unplanned admissions. Not only are district nurses already familiar with many of those living at home with long-term conditions, but they also possess the skills of advanced patient assessment and care management, enabling them to provide the necessary support during exacerbations of existing conditions. While evening community nursing services are widespread, night services are more limited, which restricts the potential of district nursing coverage. A key constraint is the reducing number of qualified district nurses (SPQDN), which has been a continuing trend over the last decade (QNI, 2021b).