16 | Nursing in Practice | Summer 2022
Opinion and debate on the latest issues affecting nurses in general practice and the community nursingin practice . co . uk
Government can no longer ignore nurses ’ concerns
Having long warned about underinvestment in staff , nurses are seeing the workforce crisis reach a tipping point at the very time when families desperately need the services they offer
Carolyn Scott is editor of Nursing in Practice
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Ministers still don ’ t seem to be listening when practice nurses , health visitors and community nurses say workload has reached a crisis point . Of particular concern now is primary care capacity around child health , as we identify in this issue of Nursing in Practice . Problems have been allowed to worsen , such as the inconsistent access families have to the advice of a health visitor .
The Institute of Health Visiting has been warning for some time that the number of health visitors in post is unsustainably low , and inevitably this has now reached a tipping point . As cost of living pressures impact on families , and with the situation likely to get worse before it gets better , the health visitors and nurses we spoke to are increasingly concerned about the health and welfare of the parents and children they look after . Soaring demand for care , only added to by the backlog from the pandemic , calls for urgent workforce solutions , yet nothing is forthcoming from the Government . As we report , health visitors numbers are falling , leaving children – particularly those in struggling households – lacking access to the resources they desperately need . Vulnerable families need more support than ever before , not less , yet the tireless efforts of staff are not being matched by the required investment in services and workforce ( see page 6 ).
Nurses have also been speaking out on behalf of colleagues coping with long Covid . While many of us are now moving on from the The tireless efforts of nurses pandemic , the nurses living with are not being matched by the effects of long Covid face a investment in the workforce devastating impact on their lives and careers . It ’ s shocking that not all of them are getting adequate support from their employers . These nurses put themselves at risk as they cared for others during the pandemic and it ’ s vital that healthcare employers look after those who are left with lasting effects ( see page 10 ).
Nurses and GPs have also been championing the cause of women experiencing the impact of HRT shortages . The work that healthcare teams have done to educate women on the menopause , and build their own confidence in prescribing HRT , has contributed to an increase in demand that suppliers are currently struggling with ( see page 32 ). This increased awareness about the menopause and its impact on women ’ s lives and careers means nurses are increasingly asked to answer questions and support women ’ s decision-making at this stage of their lives . More needs to be done to ensure the right provision across the country , and the voice of nurses is vitally important in this respect .
Nurses are right to speak out about these issues on behalf of patients and colleagues . But when will they finally be heard ?