Nursing in Practice Summer 2021 (issue 120) | Page 5

NEWS 5

Health Education England chief nurse Mark Radford has said nurses who specialise in long Covid are needed to respond to the rising number of cases .

Mr Radford , who is also deputy chief nursing officer for England , told Nursing in Practice he believed ‘ developing expertise with nurses who specialise in long Covid in the community and also in other settings is a natural progression ’.

Specialist long Covid nurses could work to support Covid patients alongside those who hold other highly specialist roles in community settings – such as in diabetes and heart failure – who already ‘ manage complex symptoms as part of their routine work ’, he added .

It came as community and primary care nurses suggested to Nursing in Practice that long Covid could become more common than dementia and would require extra resources .

Dr Elaine Maxwell , nurse academic and author of the National Institute for Health Research ’ s ongoing long Covid review , said : ‘[ People with long Covid ] need things skilled nurses are good at – such as supporting them through changing their health status , guiding their ongoing monitoring and being the patient advocate .’

Gail Allsopp , a GP working in Derbyshire and clinical policy lead at the Royal College of General Practitioners , told a Westminster Health Forum conference on long Covid in May that primary care needed more resources to deal with long Covid presentations .

She said : ‘ These are complex and multisystem presentations . In primary care , we need multiple contacts and repeat interactions . This takes time . This is therefore taking time away from other things happening in primary care .’

Official data suggest more than a million people in England are living with long Covid . See the full interview with Mr Radford on p14 .

Mark Radford : ‘ A natural progression ’

Independent sector pay ‘ a priority ’ for RCN Council

Pay , terms and conditions for nurses working outside the NHS are ‘ a priority ’ for the RCN Council , and ‘ crucial ’ to addressing disparities within the independent sector , a leader on the work at the union has said .

Dolores McCormick , who was the RCN ’ s independent sector strategy programme lead until care home manager Mark Bird took over in June , told Nursing in Practice the college is working on a long-term independent sector pay strategy for the 40 % of its membership who work outside the NHS .

She said the scheme , which ties into the RCN ’ s Fair Pay for Nursing campaign for nurses across all healthcare settings , has explored ideas that include introducing ‘ generic job

descriptions ’ for care home staff that could ‘ benchmark to NHS Agenda for Change ( AfC ) job roles and pay scales ’.

Although controversy over the Government ’ s proposed 1 % pay rise for NHS staff on AfC contracts has dominated headlines in recent weeks , many nurses – including those in general practice and care homes – are not covered by AfC , so their pay , terms and conditions can vary .

Burnout to worsen , nursing leaders warn

Nurse burnout will become a rising problem as the profession emerges from the initial impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic , senior nurses have told Nursing in Practice .

As relentless working hours , cancelled holidays and emotional stress continue to take their toll , new challenges have surfaced , such as the management of long Covid and the struggle to find enough qualified vaccinators to staff hubs .

‘ The workforce is already under pressure – we ’ re working at unprecedented levels – and delivering the vaccination programme is adding stress on top of that work ,’ said Ellen Nicholson chair of the RCN ’ s general practice nurse forum .

Helen Lewis , an ANP in a practice based in Wales , said nurses were not prepared for the demands of dealing with long Covid . ‘ There will be extra pressure on nurses ’ workload , and that could be where burnout comes in ,’ she warned . Burnout within the profession is already a significant problem . A Nursing in Practice survey earlier this year revealed 35 % of GPNs in the UK were considering quitting after the pandemic , because of workload and feeling undervalued . Treating patients with long Covid , p36 .

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