Editorial Resources

The independent investigation of the National Health Service in England led by Lord Darzi sets out the issues which will need addressing in the NHS 10-year plan. In his report,  Lord Darzi identifies the deteriorating performance of the NHS and highlights important difficulties, including health inequalities, worsening public health, long waiting
times and stagnant real term finance.

It is exciting to see a growing editorial board for our journal, and we are fortunate to have some excellent clinicians with wide and varied experience to help inform our content and direction as we move into 2025. The December issue reflects this with a range of articles
including advanced clinical decisionmaking, patient safety, and clinical articles on the rare but important disease bullous pemphigoid, gout and dietary changes, asthma, and managing urinary tract infections (UTIs) in men.

At NHS Charities Together, we want everyone in the UK to experience the best healthcare possible.

Right now, the NHS is facing immense challenges. Pressures continue to grow, NHS resources are stretched, the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic is still starkly felt and budgets are squeezed so only the crucial elements of care are delivered. Patients’ needs
are changing — the population is growing and more people are living longer, often with more or multiple long-term conditions. We depend more on technology. Staff must be properly supported to provide a positive, personal experience to patients.

I’ve overheard several people say that was the fastest summer yet — I am not sure what makes a summer pass faster than most, but I do agree it passed at lightning speed. As I try and settle into a routine for the autumn, I find myself busy reviewing our long-term condition lists, planning quality improvement projects and mentoring the nurses who are newer to our team but developing fast. The opportunities in general practice nursing are widening all the time and it’s a privilege to be supporting some nurses through their long-term condition modules and others to develop advanced practice skills, such as prescribing and clinical examination and assessment. Like the summer, everything seems to happen much faster these days. It is always stimulating to work with new nurses, it helps keep me up to date and to seek better ways of managing our increasingly busy GPN role.

Our garden is in full bloom, and we have had a lovely spell of sunny weather. We were even treated to the northern lights above our house last week— worth being woken up for at 1.00am! It’s not just the garden and the weather I feel excited about, the first in our podcast series is now live, ‘Heart failure in primary care — role of GPNs’ (www.journalofpracticenursing. co.uk/course/heart-failure-in-primary- care-role-of-gpns/details) and you can join my colleague Susan and I as we sit down for a ‘coffee break’ chat about heart failure, admittedly half an hour is more than I normally get for a coffee break! However, making this time to sit and talk was hugely beneficial, and I learnt so much that now helps in practice. I hope you can make the time to watch it and please share what you found useful and any ideas for future discussion on this GPN community platform.

It is exciting to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Journal of General Practice Nursing, to reflect on how far the journal has come and be part of its development for the future. I first
wrote for the journal in February 2016, looking back it’s a passionate article about the importance of our role in facilitating lifestyle change and health promotion. It still rings true
today and maybe has helped me to not feel cynical about the tidal wave of preventable disease we face in our daily work.

I found the ‘Practice matters’ article about GPNs and the additional roles reimbursement scheme interesting on several levels. First, it reminds me how well placed we are as GPNs to deliver holistic personalised care across the whole population. Patients regularly
feedback that they like seeing a clinician who can listen to and help with a wide range of health issues.

Here, Dr Nick Jenkins, senior DVLA doctor, explains why they are hoping to gather evidence on topics such as legal obligations, medical licensing rules in other countries, growing prevalence of drivers with multiple medical conditions, as well as advancements

The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) annual conference takes place online from 2–5 October and is the UK’s leading event for community nursing. Thanks to its sponsors and donations, the conference is free for all registered and student nurses to attend. The theme of this year’s conference is, ‘In the Spotlight — Nurses Leading Care in People’s Homes and Communities’.