6 COMMUNITY NEWS
Nurses fear proposed changes to NMC standards could put children at risk
The NMC ’ s plans for community children ’ s nursing could put patients ’ lives at risk and lead to slipping standards in the profession , nurses in the field have warned .
The regulator ’ s proposed post-registration standards for community children ’ s nurses ( CCNs ) – who look after ill and disabled children at home – would lead to variations in care quality , members of the @ careCCN pressure group , created last July , have told Nursing in Practice .
Currently , the NMC holds separate standards for specialist practitioner qualification ( SPQ ) programmes undertaken in community children ’ s nursing , district nursing , general practice nursing , community learning disabilities nursing and community mental health nursing .
But draft proposals would introduce a single set of SPQ standards , with universities expected to develop one community nursing programme with different routes for each specialism .
Northern Ireland-based CCN Maeve Murray said she was ‘ very concerned about patient safety ’ if the changes go ahead . She added : ‘ There is already such variation between courses , and even services . We know unwarranted variation really increases risk to patient safety .’
Ms Murray warned the plans could threaten the future of CCNs . ‘ There is a worry that if we don ’ t stop the proposals , we may start to say goodbye to children ’ s nursing as a discipline .’
Jane Mulcahy , a CCN based in Sussex , agreed : ‘ We ’ re not just aiming to be this generic nurse that you can slot in anywhere across the NHS . How can you have a specialist qualification that doesn ’ t have specific standards attached ?’
Cambridgeshire-based CCN Sian Hooban added : ‘ I feel really privileged having had the opportunity to do the SPQ . It gives you that high-level strategic thinking . Not having the SPQ doesn ’ t diminish the role but taking away the opportunity of obtaining it is the concern .’
The group worries the small size of their profession – with only 864 registered with an SPQ in the NMC ’ s latest registration report – can mean their voice is not heard by policymakers .
But NMC executive director of professional practice Professor Geraldine Walters told Nursing in Practice : ‘ The draft standards will give universities and practice partners more flexibility to develop programmes in the way they need to meet our standards . This includes a route for those post-registration students who will need to meet the proficiencies for the CCN qualification .’
On fears about erasure of the CCN role , she said : ‘ We do not have any authority to make decisions in regard to workforce planning and funding , but we hope that our standards provide the regulatory framework that demonstrates the value of suitably educated and proficient CCNs .’
The NMC is currently urging people to take part in the four-month consultation on the draft proposals , which ends on 2 August .
Helen Whately : ‘ Ambitious and bold ’ reforms needed to counter workforce crisis
Social care reform must tackle workforce shortfall , says minister
The social care minister has said long-awaited reforms to the sector will need to address workforce vacancies and high turnover rates .
Social care minister Helen Whately told the House of Commons health and social care committee in May that the reforms , promised this year by the Government , must be ‘ ambitious and bold in scope ’ – covering chronic workforce shortages , high care costs and quality of care .
Ms Whately said : ‘ One thing we ’ ve said we will tackle is the problem of catastrophic costs where some people have to sell their home to pay for their care . But we need to be clear that that ’ s not the only thing we need to do .
‘ We need to also , for instance , be tackling the challenges of the workforce where we know there are vacancies and high turnover rates , and addressing some of the quality concerns .’
Ms Whately said the pandemic had ‘ set reforms back ’ but added she is ‘ impatient ’ to bring plans forward .
‘ Mandatory Covid jabs could mean more social care vacancies ’
Care home leaders have warned of retention and recruitment problems if Covid-19 vaccination is made mandatory for staff working with older adults in care homes in England .
The Department of Health and Social Care announced a five-week consultation on the proposal in April amid concern over vaccine uptake among staff in residential care homes .
But Mike Padgham , Independent Care Group chair and owner of Saint Cecilia ’ s Care Services in Yorkshire , told Nursing in Practice the requirement could ‘ be a barrier to recruitment and retention ’ in the already struggling sector .
The consultation suggests employers could ‘ redeploy ’ unvaccinated staff to non-care home settings or end their employment . However , Mr Padgham said providers had ‘ extremely limited ’ options for redeploying staff .
Twitter debate highlights the pressure on health visitors
A sector leader has spoken up about the strain health visitors have felt during the Covid crisis , after a Twitter exchange suggested many parents have felt abandoned .
Alison Morton , acting executive director of the Institute of Health Visiting , said health visitors faced ‘ unmanageable caseloads ’. She was reacting to the huge response to a journalist ’ s Twitter post saying she had not met her health visitor during her child ’ s first year .
Jess Brammar , until recently the editor-inchief of Huffpost , wrote : ‘ This morning we ’ ve been summoned to a one-year health visitor baby check online . We ’ ve never met our health visitor . So this morning I could go out and get a pedicure but I can ’ t put my baby in the same room as his health visitor for his one year check .’
Some parents suggested health visitors had been ‘ hiding ’ during the pandemic . But Ms Morton said the situation was the ‘ consequence of years of cuts , which predate the pandemic ’.
ALAMY nursinginpractice . com Summer 2021