July 06 Newsletter
THE SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE HEALTH DEPARTMENT
REVIEW OF NURSING IN THE COMMUNITY
JULY 2006
The draft report of the Review was circulated widely for comment from 7 June with responses invited by 23 June. More than 160 replies were received from individuals from every area in Scotland. Over half the respondents worked in or represented NHS agencies or staff. There were also a sizeable number of responses from individuals representing multi-agency partnerships, such as Community Health (and Social Care) Partnerships. There were a few responses from the voluntary sector and local authority representatives along with responses from carers, or individuals representing carer networks. A substantial number of responses came from senior individuals in NHS organisations - including Chief Executives of NHS boards, Directors of Community Health (and Social Care) Partnerships and Directors of Nursing. Most of the responses displayed considerable awareness and knowledge of on-going initiatives aimed at improving the delivery of community-based services in Scotland.
Respondents acknowledged the effort that had gone into the Review of Community Nursing and many commented positively on a number of aspects of the review report.
Respondents were generally in support of the report's key messages and recommendations. In particular, they welcomed and agreed with the report's statements regarding the important, valuable and highly-skilled role played by nurses in the community, and the potential to develop this role further.
However, although respondents were largely in support of the report's key messages and recommendations, it was noted that many people expressed many concerns - at every level, and in almost every part of Scotland (with two notable exceptions), respondents expressed some serious concerns about the model. Work is now underway to re-work the report in light of the reservations that have been expressed during the consultation process in discussion with the Project Steering Group.
The Review team would like to thank all those who have participated in the various workshops that have been held, the two conferences, completed the questionnaire, commented on the draft report or contributed to the carer, steering or practitioner groups. The next phase of work will begin once the Minister has commented on the draft report although this will be an implementation process rather than one of review.
The web pages have been moved to www.scotland.gov.uk/nursing so please re-bookmark it as a favourite! although users will be re-directed from the old address to the new pages automatically.
The two project officers, Alison Jarvis and Helen Morrison, remain in post until their secondments finish at the end of the year.