New Project to Boost Understanding of Community Nursing Workforce
18 November 2019
The Queen’s Nursing Institute launched a new International Community Nursing Observatory in London on 18 November.
The International Community Nursing Observatory (ICNO) will have responsibility for analysing data and trends in the community nursing workforce data in greater depth. The ICNO will collate and analyse data about community and primary care nursing services at a regional, national and international level.
The idea behind the foundation of the ICNO originated from an independent strategic review conducted in 2018 by executives at Barclays Bank plc, through the ‘Unlocking Insights’ programme which is led and managed by the charity Pilotlight. The ‘Pilotlighters’ at Barclays highlighted that data relating to the community nursing services workforce is often incomplete and this leads to barriers that prevent the progression of policy development, service enhancement and improvements to the care of individuals, families, carers and communities.
The ICNO will seek commissions designed to support data gathering and analysis that will provide evidence to enhance service planning and delivery in health and social care settings.
Dr Crystal Oldman CBE, Chief Executive of QNI, said:
‘The Queen’s Nursing Institute has a long and successful track record of publishing independent high-quality reports based on data and intelligence about the community and primary care nursing workforce. The new International Community Nursing Observatory will take our data and intelligence work at the QNI to the next level and I would like to thank Pilotlight and the Barclays team for their significant help in this important development.’
Professor Alison Leary MBE, Chair of Healthcare and Workforce Modelling at London South Bank University (LSBU), has been appointed as Director of the ICNO in a part-time role. Professor Leary commented:
‘I’m delighted that the QNI has asked me to lead this project. Community nursing is vital for the wellbeing of the nation and impacts our lives in many different ways. Being able to help the QNI and community nursing fill gaps in the evidence base is both exciting and a great privilege.’
Dr John Unsworth, Chair of QNI’s Council said:
‘The QNI’s Council views quality data and intelligence as vital if we are to secure the community nursing workforce of the future that the UK needs. Ensuring we have the right nurses with the right skills has always been part of the QNI’s work and this can only be achieved with robust data and workforce planning.’
Photos of the launch.
Media Contact: Matthew Bradby, Head of Communications, The Queen’s Nursing Institute
matthew.bradby@qni.org.uk 020 7549 1408
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