For those of us living wih a long term condition like heart failure, community nursing will play an important part in our day to day lives, if not already.

In a recent statement the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland says that plans to shift care from Scotland’s hospitals to our communities will founder unless the necessary investment is made in community nursing.

The RCN supports the provision of more health care in the community because it not only reduces costly hospital stays but is better for patients, their families and friends.

However, a snapshot survey of community nurses in Scotland reveals a picture of increasing caseloads and less time to spend with patients, so the NHS needs to rapidly increase capacity if it is to meet growing demand.

Theresa Fyffe Director of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland said -
“The laudable aspiration of delivering more care closer to home rather than in hospitals will remain just that – an aspiration – unless the community nursing workforce is bolstered over the next few years.
Community nurses are telling us that they are overburdened already, so shifting more services to the community is simply not going to work unless action is taken to ensure we have enough community nurses to deliver them.
Not only that, investment needs to be made in their education and training to make sure they are equipped with the appropriate skills to be able to care for the increasingly complex needs of patients.”

As the editorial in the Herald states -
"Reorganisation, however, is not a substitute for proper funding, even if the integration process itself delivers efficiencies. If the Scottish Government's vision of healthier patients cared for at home is to become a reality, greater investment in community nursing will be a necessity."

Source: RCN Scotland ; The Herald