02 November 2018

23 January 2018

01 December 2020

Here, Kirsty Armstrong, ANP in OOH, Urgent Care and GPEA looks at why telephone triage is an art, and how its importance and skill is underestimated. Alongside this word search, which contains some red flags that triagers need to consider, there are some reasons listed as to why these are red flags and the speed with which patients need to be referred, or seen face to face, when presenting with these symptoms. Additionally, there is guidance on those symptoms and conditions that have the option of watch/wait or monitor.

01 October 2019

Imagine a network, an online community, made by nurses, for nurses. That is exactly what is on offer with the Digital Nurse Network, which aims to create an inclusive space where nurses, healthcare assistants, midwives and members of the wider nursing team can come together and obtain trusted information on NHS England’s national programmes and digital initiatives. We want the network to be owned and driven by the people that make up its membership, guided by the two clinical nurse advisors — Helen and Ann.

23 September 2016

The launch of a ground-breaking epidemiological study into lung disease in the UK has revealed some stark outcomes. The results of the three-year research project were launched by the British Lung Foundation (BLF) in the ‘Battle for Breath’ report on 27 May, 2016. The project aimed to compile a comprehensive overview of the extent and impact of lung disease across the UK, and is the first time data on this scale has been gathered since 2006.

01 February 2016

When I first started in general practice in 1990 I worked with a general practice nurse (GPN), a health visiting team, a district nursing team, a community psychiatric nurse (CPN), a social worker and a benefits advisor, and we were accountable for the 24/7 expert generalist cover for our registered list of 8,500 people.

 I entered general practice after a decade of training and experience as a general and vascular surgeon and it took me some while to adjust to the shock of realising that my mindset, attitudes and beliefs, drummed into me through medical school and beyond, had to be reframed: I had to become an expert generalist. 

19 March 2018

22 September 2015

If you don’t protect your vaccines, they won’t protect your patients.

Vaccines save lives — but the cost procured by the Government is over £300 million a year. Last calendar year, vaccines wasted through incidents in primary care had a value at list price of £3.7 million. This figure represents vaccines that were disposed as a result of both avoidable and non-avoidable incidents, including failure to store them properly. This does not include any flu vaccine wastage (other than vaccines from the children’s programme), or any other centrally procured vaccine which Public Health England (PHE) supply and do not collect data on (e.g. rabies vaccine) (personal communication with Chris Lucas, vaccine supply team, PHE).

03 May 2016

06 July 2016

In the UK, there are an estimated one million, one hundred thousand people over the age of 65 who are chronically lonely (Victor et al, 2005). 

In 2015, a report by the Campaign to End Loneliness, Hidden Citizens, explored current understandings of and approaches to identifying loneliness and offered innovative insights into how policymakers and healthcare  professionals can improve their outreach. Since its launch, public and political attention to loneliness has continued to sharpen as the social, economic and moral case for tackling loneliness grows in awareness, evidence and support.