The QNI’s Response to the Change NHS Consultation

The QNI has submitted its Organisational Response to the Change NHS Consultation, intended to shape the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan to improve the health service which will be published in Spring.

The UK Government launched the NHS reform consultation in October, inviting members of the public as well as NHS staff and experts to share their experiences, views and ideas for changing the NHS in ‘the biggest national conversation about the future of the NHS since its birth’.

A summary of the QNI’s Organisational Response can be found below. Click here to read the full response.

Q1) What does the QNI want to see included in the 10-Year Health Plan and why?

• Invest in education and training through a fully funded workforce plan to ensure that the community nursing workforce, in all its forms, is restored to pre-austerity levels within a decade. This will support the proactive management of long-term conditions to prevent unnecessary admission to hospital.
• Develop advanced practice nursing roles to ensure residents in all nursing homes have access to specialist care that prevents deterioration and manages frailty.
• Develop and implement a public health strategy for England designed to address poor diet and obesity, smoking and vaping, and physical inactivity.
• Improve end-of-life care for all ages through strengthening the end-of-life workforce including district nurses, community children’s nurses and hospice staff. A renewed emphasis on the Gold Standards framework to ensure parity of provision across service providers.
• Recognise the need for accessible and responsive mental health services at a variety of different levels including tier one support in schools, workplaces and specialist teams for enduring mental health issues.

Q2) What does the QNI see as the biggest challenges and enablers to move more care from hospitals to communities?

• Challenge – neglecting nursing expertise in policy development.
• Enabler – include nurses in all significant health policy conversations, and/or for policy makers to shadow nurses and health visitors in practice in the community.
• Challenge – staffing shortages and staff retention.
• Enabler – increase investment in district nursing.

Q3) What does the QNI see as the biggest challenges and enablers to making better use of technology in health and care?

• Enabler – Investment to improve poor IT infrastructure.
• Challenge – poor connectivity hindering new tech rollouts.
• Challenge – poor data around the size of the community nursing workforce.

Q4) What does the QNI see as the biggest challenges and enablers to spotting illnesses earlier and tackling the causes of ill health?

• Challenge – more investment in public health is needed.
• Enabler – renewed focus on health visitors and school nurses.
• Enabler – taxation on unhealthy products.

 Q5) The QNI’s Specific Ideas for Change (with timeframe):

• Quick to do – An action to address early retirement in community nursing: reform the Advanced Practice Digital Badge Scheme.
• Starting immediately, in 2-5 years – establish a core professional development programme. E.g a community nursing environmental sustainability programme.
• Start immediately and up to 10 years – A campaign to change the perception of community nursing.

To find out more about the NHS reform consultation and to submit your views, click here.

There are several ways that views can still be submitted to the consultation:

• Community Engagement: ‘Workshop in a Box’ feedback (by 14^th February 2025)
• Public & Patient Experience Survey (by early 2025)
• Health & Core Workforce Experience Survey (by early 2025)
• Your Ideas for Change