The last two weeks have been a mixture of complete admiration for the way in which all colleagues in health and social care have met the need for the COVID-19 vaccination programme to be stepped up at a pace and scale never seen before – and despair about the lack of political recognition for the nursing workforce in the community.
Practice nurses stepping up
Given that the first time nurses and GPs heard about the acceleration of the programme was when the Prime Minister announced it in the media on the evening of Sunday 12 December, the response in action the following day is nothing short of heroic, uncomplaining, and comprehensive. Finding out that your world of work is going to substantially change within a few hours and applying your clinical and organisational skills to ensure the safety of your communities based on a national announcement a few hours beforehand, is not for the faint-hearted. And general practice nurses have, as they always do, stepped up and applied their considerable knowledge and skills to deliver on the Prime Minister's promise to the country.
They also did this knowing that not all politicians appreciate the critical centrality of their role in the country's COVID mass vaccination programme – as it is with all vaccination programmes – and that they have been and will continue to be, the main organisers of its delivery. Indeed, they are rarely mentioned by any politician, even as one of the team, let alone the team member without whom the vaccination programme could not be delivered at all.
Protecting communities
General practice nurses and other nurses in the community also stepped up to do this at a time when an investigation had just begun into the alleged breaking of the COVID-19 restrictions by members of the government in December 2020, including the accusation of a Christmas party being held at 10 Downing Street when the rest of the country was adhering to strict lockdown rules to reduce infections in our communities and to protect the NHS from a surge in new cases.
It is to the credit of the nurses that they have been so willing to put aside all feelings about the apparent breaking of the rules by the very people who make them, and to focus only on protecting their communities. I am in awe of the professionalism and expertise of the general practice nurses, district nurses, allied health professionals, the professional support staff and the volunteers who so readily came forward to rise to the challenge.
Leadership and innovation
And we know, nurses rise to the challenges before them all the time. I had the pleasure of speaking about this on 13 December when we held the QNI annual Award Ceremony. More than 400 nurses were recognised for their leadership and innovation, placing the individual, carer, family and community at the centre of all they do and living the values of the QNI (2021).
One of the award categories was the Ellen Mary prize for the most outstanding achievement while undertaking the General Practice Nursing Specialist Practitioner Qualification (GPNSPQ). Queen's Nurse Gill Boast spoke beautifully about the background to the prize and her family's legacy to the QNI to support the award, which is named after her mother, to honour her extraordinary life. The comments in the ‘chat-box’ from the audience of almost 700 people at the award ceremony demonstrated the importance of recognising general practice nursing in this way, referring to the ‘army of nurses’ who every day are caring for communities alongside their GP colleagues, but rarely get a mention in the media. It was uplifting to see the support for the prize winners – the rising stars in primary care – and for general practice nurses everywhere.
If only the government could bring themselves to see what nurses are doing in every village, town and city to support their communities, it might just help boost morale, improve retention, ignite recruitment and lift the spirits of an exhausted workforce that is protecting all our communities 24/7.
‘General practice nurses have, as they always do, stepped up and applied their considerable knowledge and skills to deliver on the Prime Minister's promise to the country.’