Locally-driven primary care plans could benefit nursing staff
By Gemma Raw
A recently-published report has advocated closer working between NHS England and local Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) to identify measures which will support recruitment and training of community nurses, district nurses and community psychiatric nurses.
The Fuller Stocktake report was commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement. Dr Claire Fuller and her team were tasked with reviewing integrated primary care to find out what's working well, why it's working well and how the implementation of integrated primary care can be speeded up across systems.
"NHS England should work together with systems – recognising they will all have locally driven workforce plans – to identify what measures can be introduced to better support local recruitment and training of key community healthcare teams," says the report. The nursing staff involved would include community nurses, district nurses and community psychiatric nurses, working alongside primary care services in integrated neighbourhood teams.
The report also calls for a more consistent and comprehensive training, supervision and development offer across primary care, including a focus on medical staff and non-medical staff and existing staff such as receptionists, practice managers and practice nurses, as well as retention strategies across early, mid and late career paths. "Systems will want to work with primary and community care training hubs to ensure ‘the offer’ they provide is broad enough to help integrated neighbourhood teams flourish," says the report.
What is an ICS?
An ICS is a partnership between providers and commissioners of NHS services across a geographical area with local authorities and other local partners to collectively plan health and care services to meet the needs of their local population. The main objective of an ICS is to integrate care across different organisations and settings, joining up hospital and community-based services, physical and mental health, and health and social care. There are 42 ICSs, covering all areas of England.
Workforce challenges
The Fuller report acknowledges that new care models will not 'magic away' the workforce challenges faced by the NHS and that reforming education and training to build the workforce pipeline will take time. However, the report also highlights the progress made: "The latest data as of Q4 2021/22 shows that over 18,000 FTEs were in post by end of March 2022 – significantly ahead of the trajectory towards the 26,000 March 2024 target."
Reinventing nursing roles
The issue is not just about attracting new nursing staff into primary care. The report also says that the NHS needs to create a backdrop that enables nursing roles to be 'reimagined and made more flexible and attractive – ultimately supporting increased participation and retention in primary care'.
A moment of opportunity
In her introduction to the report, Dr Fuller describes the launch of the new ICSs as the biggest opportunity in a generation for the most radical overhaul in the way health and social care services are designed and delivered. "Despite the current challenges, there is real optimism that the new reforms to health and social care – if properly supported to embed and succeed – can provide the backdrop for transforming how primary care is delivered in every community in the country."
