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<p>Community health services plays a crucial role in keeping people living healthier
for longer through proactively managing health in a setting where patients feel most
comfortable. Having the right workforce is fundamental to ensure this can happen and
the Government acknowledges the challenge of meeting increased demand for care from
community nurses</p><p>Work by the NHS Benchmarking Network found that 39% of district
nursing clinical time is spent on wound care and so wound care is a key service within
the remit of community health services. There are a number of activities currently
taking place to address the issues around wound care including the National ‘Stop
the Pressure’ programme by NHS Improvement and the Leading Change, Adding Value: Improving
Wound Care Project by NHS England.</p><p>District nurses will have completed a Specialist
Practitioner Programme, approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, to practice.
NHS Digital’s data shows a drop in the number of full-time equivalent practicing district
nurses. This has been reported by various interested parties, including the King’s
Fund and the Queen’s Nursing Institute. As a result of changes, made in 2009, to the
way that community health services are commissioned – i.e. to a range of different
types of provider – there will be a number of district nurses providing National Health
Service funded services in organisations that do not provide a return to the Electronic
Staff Record and therefore this data does not represent the full picture.</p><p>However
we are not complacent, which is why Health Education England is exploring the capacity
and capability requirement of our community workforce to best meet the future needs
of the population. This will be set out in their workforce strategy later this year.
In order to meet the growing need to increase the future supply of registered nurses
including mental health, additional clinical placement funding was announced by the
Department in August and October 2017. This will enable around 5,000 more nursing
students to enter training each year from September 2018; a historic increase.</p><p>On
9 May, the Minister of State for Health (Stephen Barclay), also announced that postgraduate
students who go on to work in mental health and learning disability fields, as well
as those postgraduates who go on to work in community nursing roles, will receive
£10,000 'golden hellos’. The Government announced £10 million to support this and
we are currently considering how this is best delivered on the ground.</p>
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