Keele Research Repository

District Nurses have been delivering care at home for over 150 years. Their role is appreciated by colleagues, patients and carers alike and can often make the difference between remaining in a preferred location of care or a preferred place of death.

The role has changed considerably over this time: patients are living longer with increasingly more complex conditions; earlier discharges from secondary care are common with more acute patients returning to be cared for at home and comorbid mental health conditions are often the norm for people.

However, against this backdrop, District Nurse numbers are falling, and are expected to continue to fall, due, in part, to an ageing workforce but also a reduction in training, both places and funding, which is potentially putting the future of the District Nurse in jeopardy.

Urgent action is required to avoid losing this cornerstone of ‘care closer to home’.