First survey by new data unit shows district nurses stretched to limits

Almost half of UK district nurses are planning to leave the profession within the next six years, according to the first major report produced by a new community nursing data hub.

The research was carried out by the Queen’s Nursing Institute’s new International Community Nursing Observatory (ICNO), which is headed by high-profile nurse academic Alison Leary.

Speaking during a launch event last night, Professor Leary said the statistics painted a picture of an ageing workforce, with 60% of those who responded to the survey over the age of 45.

She questioned: “Where are the next generation [of district nurses] coming from?”

A “huge variety” of more than 1,000 different job titles were recorded by the 2,858 district nursing team members who responded to the survey.

ICNO director Professor Leary described this variation as “unbelievable” and added: “The district nursing brand seems to need a bit of a rebirth.”

However, Professor Leary, who is also chair of healthcare and workforce modelling at London South Bank University, said the “real issue” was around capacity.

Of those who gave their feedback, 30% said they had a caseload of 400 or more.

A massive three-quarters (75%) of respondents said they had vacancies or “frozen posts” in their teams. “That must be quite soul destroying I think if you are in that situation,” said Professor Leary.

Despite these pressures, 63% said their team never refused new patient referrals.

However, high demand and low capacity meant one in five (22%) were working a day or more of unpaid overtime each week.

Almost half (48%) of respondents said they were having to defer or delay visits to patients on a daily basis because they were so busy.

“You really don’t need to be a mathematician to work this one out,” noted Professor Leary during the event at Twitter headquarters in London.

“If you’ve got a decreasing workforce and an increasing workload, increasing demand, you could see where this is probably going.”

The survey also showed that education and training opportunities for community nurses were missed when the service was busy or short staffed.

Meanwhile, poor technology came through loud and clear as an issue for many district nurses on the frontline.

Of those who responded to the survey, 36% said improved IT would make a difference to their work.

“District nurses actually really like IT, they like using technology,” said Professor Leary.