Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of (a) staffing numbers in NHS community and district nursing and (b) the ability of such staff to cope with changes in the level of demand.
Answered by Dan Poulter
The Health and Social Care Information Centre publishes provisional monthly National Health Service hospital and community health service (HCHS) workforce statistics of directly employed staff in NHS trusts and social care trusts in England. The most recent statistics published on 23 September, showed that in June 2014 there were 66,969 full time equivalent qualified nursing and health visiting staff, including district nursing staff working in community-based services.
The Government established Health Education England (HEE) to be responsible for delivering a better health and healthcare workforce for England and for ensuring a secure future supply, to cope with changes in demand, taking into account factors such as the age profile of the existing workforce, the impact of technology, and new drugs.
In December 2013, HEE published its first annual workforce plan for England, covering the period 2014-15. This plan was determined through an assessment of future need by local NHS employers, and Local Education and Training Boards and used as the basis of an investment plan for England, which included community and district nursing requirements, alongside other professions.
This year HEE increased the number of training places for adult nursing by 9% and district nursing by 7.2%.
Since May 2010 the overall number of nurses has increased by 3,379 (1.1%). As part of the Government's response to the Francis Inquiry, many of these increased nurses have been in hospital settings. However, the Government's longer term ambition is to train increasing numbers with the skills to work across all clinical settings. The Mandate to HEE recognises the need for a greater emphasis on community, primary and multi-integrated health and care, requiring working in multidisciplinary teams to break down barriers between primary and secondary care.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what change there has been in the number of people requiring healthcare (a) at home and (b) in the community between May 2010 and May 2014.
Answered by Dan Poulter
Data on the number of people requiring healthcare at home and in the community is not held centrally.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what records have been kept by his Department indicating the number of (a) district nurses and (b) qualified nurses, excluding health visitors, working in community service at NHS organisations in England and Wales since May 2010.
Answered by Dan Poulter
The Health and Social Care Information Centre publishes provisional monthly National Health Service hospital and community health service (HCHS) workforce statistics of directly employed staff in NHS trusts and social care trusts in England.
Since May 2010 the overall number of nurses has increased by 3,379 (1.1%). As part of the Government's response to the Francis Inquiry, many of these increased nurses have been in hospital settings. However, the Government's longer term ambition is to train increasing numbers with the skills to work across all clinical settings. The Mandate to Health Education England recognises the need for a greater emphasis on community, primary and multi-integrated health and care, requiring working in multidisciplinary teams to break down barriers between primary and secondary care.
The following table shows the numbers of qualified nurses (excluding health visitors), district nurses and health visitors in the NHS in England since May 2010. It covers nurses and midwives working in community based services, determined by the area of work in which they perform the greatest share of their duties. It does not necessarily indicate the setting in which they work.
Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff, and qualified nursing and health visiting staff working in 'Community-based Services' in the following Areas of Work in England: | |||||
Community Services |
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Community Psychiatry |
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Community Learning Disabilities |
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School Nursing |
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Full Time Equivalent | May 2010 | June 2014 | Change May 2010 - June 2014 | ||
All qualified nurses, midwives and health visitors (including the health visitor minimum dataset) | 310,794 | 314,173 | 3,379 1.1% | ||
Community-based Services | 69,611 | 66,969 | -2,643 | -3.8% | |
of which: |
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Community-based Services (excluding Health Visitors and District Nurses) | 53,706 | 51,448 | -2,258 | -4.2% | |
District Nurses | 7,813 | 5,590 | -2,223 | -28.4% | |
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Health Visitors | 8,092 | 9,930 | 1,838 | 22.7% | |
Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre Provisional Monthly Workforce Statistics June 2014 |
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The provision of health services in the United Kingdom is a devolved issue. The contact for Wales is available from the link below:
Wales: http://wales.gov.uk/topics/health/?lang=en
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the number of (a) district nurses and (b) qualified nurses, excluding health visitors, working in community services at NHS organisations in England since May 2010; and what steps he is taking to increase such numbers.
Answered by Dan Poulter
The following table shows the numbers of qualified nurses (excluding health visitors), district nurses and health visitors in the NHS in England since May 2010. It covers nurses and midwives working in community based services, determined by the area of work in which they perform the greatest share of their duties. It does not necessarily indicate the setting in which they work.
Since May 2010 the overall number of nurses has increased by 3,379 (1.1%). As part of the Government's response to the Francis Inquiry, many of these increased nurses have been in hospital settings. However, the Government's longer term ambition is to train increasing numbers with the skills to work across all clinical settings. The Mandate to Health Education England recognises the need for a greater emphasis on community, primary and multi-integrated health and care, requiring working in multidisciplinary teams to break down barriers between primary and secondary care.
Health Education England is responsible for delivering a better health and healthcare workforce for England and for ensuring a secure future supply. This year Health Education England has increased the number of training places for district nurses by 7.2%.
Health Education England is also taking a number of other measures to increase the number of nurses working in the community. These include running a campaign to encourage registered nurses who have left to come back to work for the NHS, taking action to reduce attrition from training, encouraging more nurses to work in the community, and ensure that they have the most up to date knowledge and skills to provide high quality care for people with complex healthcare needs across all care settings.
NHS England has also commissioned the Queen’s Nursing Institution to develop a workforce planning tool to support local areas in making sure they have the right number of community nurses for their needs.
Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff, and qualified nursing and health visiting staff working in 'Community-based Services' in the following Areas of Work in England: | |||||
Community Services |
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Community Psychiatry |
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| |
Community Learning Disabilities |
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|
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| |
School Nursing |
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Full Time Equivalent | May 2010 | June 2014 | Change May 2010 - June 2014 | ||
All qualified nurses, midwives and health visitors (including the health visitor minimum dataset) | 310,794 | 314,173 | 3,379 1.1% | ||
Community-based Services | 69,611 | 66,969 | -2,643 | -3.8% | |
of which: |
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Community-based Services (excluding Health Visitors and District Nurses) | 53,706 | 51,448 | -2,258 | -4.2% | |
District Nurses | 7,813 | 5,590 | -2,223 | -28.4% | |
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Health Visitors | 8,092 | 9,930 | 1,838 | 22.7% | |
Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre Provisional Monthly Workforce Statistics June 2014 |
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Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will set national recruitment targets for NHS community and district nurses.
Answered by Dan Poulter
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14 October 2014 to Question 208753
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies conclusion of paragraph 6 of the Queen's Nursing Institute Report, 2020 Vision: 5 Years On, published in June 2014, that community nursing teams do not have capacity to accommodate any increase in demand for their services.
Answered by Dan Poulter
District nursing services involves qualified district nurses leading and supporting multi-disciplinary teams that include staff nurses, community nurses and healthcare assistants working with other professions such as general practicioners and Allied Health Professionals. Staffing levels are the responsibility of providers, who must make sure the skill mix of the workforce reflects patient care needs and local requirements, giving due consideration to the experience and capabilities of staff.
The Government is investing in the current and future workforce to have capacity and capability to provide services in a whole range of settings. To ensure that we have an adequate supply of highly skilled district nurses, Health Education England has expanded the number of training places for district nurses for 2014-15 by 431 places, an increase of 7%.
Health Education England is also taking a number of other measures to increase the number of district nurses, including working with the Higher Education Sector to provide easy access to courses to enable nurses employed in other areas to switch to working in the community, reduce attrition and support retention, increasing the accessibility of practice placements for student nurses, profiling community nursing as an attractive career option and encourage nurses whose registration has lapsed and who have left the National Health Service to return.
NHS England is in the second year of a programme to deliver on the six areas of actions linked to the implementation of Compassion in Practice nursing and midwifery strategy, published in December 2012. In particular, Action Area five is about ‘ensuring we have the right staff with the right skills in the right place’ and one of its overarching objectives is to work with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to establish adequate and appropriate staffing levels in all care settings, including community nursing. Within this is a specific piece of work with key stakeholders, including provider organisations, Health Education England and the Queens Nursing Institute, to develop a tool for workforce planning and staffing levels for community nursing based on population need; a tool that supports strategic planning as well as operational deployment of the workforce and that simultaneously considers the needs of integrated service redesign.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the conclusion on page 24 of the Queen's Nursing Institute Report, 2020 Vision: 5 Years On, published in June 2014, that almost 60 per cent of community nurses unequivocally believe they do not have enough appropriately skilled or qualified staff to deliver the patient care they think is needed.
Answered by Dan Poulter
District nursing services involves qualified district nurses leading and supporting multi-disciplinary teams that include staff nurses, community nurses and healthcare assistants working with other professions such as general practicioners and Allied Health Professionals. Staffing levels are the responsibility of providers, who must make sure the skill mix of the workforce reflects patient care needs and local requirements, giving due consideration to the experience and capabilities of staff.
The Government is investing in the current and future workforce to have capacity and capability to provide services in a whole range of settings. To ensure that we have an adequate supply of highly skilled district nurses, Health Education England has expanded the number of training places for district nurses for 2014-15 by 431 places, an increase of 7%.
Health Education England is also taking a number of other measures to increase the number of district nurses, including working with the Higher Education Sector to provide easy access to courses to enable nurses employed in other areas to switch to working in the community, reduce attrition and support retention, increasing the accessibility of practice placements for student nurses, profiling community nursing as an attractive career option and encourage nurses whose registration has lapsed and who have left the National Health Service to return.
NHS England is in the second year of a programme to deliver on the six areas of actions linked to the implementation of Compassion in Practice nursing and midwifery strategy, published in December 2012. In particular, Action Area five is about ‘ensuring we have the right staff with the right skills in the right place’ and one of its overarching objectives is to work with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to establish adequate and appropriate staffing levels in all care settings, including community nursing. Within this is a specific piece of work with key stakeholders, including provider organisations, Health Education England and the Queens Nursing Institute, to develop a tool for workforce planning and staffing levels for community nursing based on population need; a tool that supports strategic planning as well as operational deployment of the workforce and that simultaneously considers the needs of integrated service redesign.
Asked by: Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure adequate staffing levels and skill mix within NHS community nursing teams.
Answered by Dan Poulter
An important part of the National Health Service reforms was to establish clinical commissioning groups at which commissioning decisions are informed by a wide range of local clinicians. Therefore, the shape of community nursing services are organised locally, following advice from clinicians. This commissioning process also takes into account the local authority’s views through the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and the local Health and Wellbeing Strategy, to ensure that services are based on the need of the local population, within the resources available and on evidenced-based best practice.
NHS England has commissioned the Queen’s Nursing Institution to develop a workforce planning tool to support local areas in making sure they have the right number of community nurses for their needs. The Chief Nursing Officer has also set up a working group which is looking specifically at what we can do to increase the number of community nurses.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is also planning to produce guidance on safe staffing for community nursing care settings over the next two years. The development of this guidance and accreditation of related tools will ensure that all providers have what they need to make decisions to secure safe staffing levels.