Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru	National Assembly for Wales
Y Pwyllgor Iechyd, Gofal Cymdeithasol a Chwaraeon	Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Ymchwiliad I wasanaethau Nyrsio Cymunedol a Nyrsio Adal	Inquiry into Community and District Nursing services
HSCS(5) CDN AI 03
Ymateb gan unigolyn	Evidence from an individual

Hello,

I am a band 6 community nurse working in the xxxx.  I am working full time and doing my masters part time. I would like to share my thoughts on community nursing. Please see below my answers to your questions.

•           Do you feel there are enough senior nurses, nurses and HCSWs in your team to care for patients effectively? We have 1 x band 7 team leader, 2 x FT  1 x PT band 6 deputy team leaders, 8 x band 5 nurses and 2 x HCA. There are times when there is not enough band 6 cover. Staff including band 6s are working every other weekend and 1-2 lates a week and at present the north west locality are rolling out a band 6 on call every late shift. This, however takes the senior nurse away from co ordinating the shift in the day and any other senior job roles such as meetings/PDARs/incident reports etc. Nurses and HCAs are currently seeing approximately 10 patients a day and are struggling to keep up to date with the paperwork that comes with visits. We also have extra same day calls that come in via the hub (approx 2/day) that we need to see in the afternoon. All staff are struggling with the work load and staff moral is low.

•           Do you have enough time to care for patients effectively? The task can be completed effectively, however the notes/referrals/ordering and the treating of patients holistically is very difficult due to the time constraints.

•           Does your team have enough administrative support? We have a very supportive admin worker who takes a lot of pressure off, however she is also under a lot of pressure doing her job role and trying to support the nurses.

•           Do you have the right technology such as a handheld device to support your work? All staff have mobile phones. Some staff have netbooks, about 50% in my team, however these are slow, batteries do not last long and are heavy to take into patients homes with all other equipment. We have 1 x camera per team to take photos of wounds, however photos are rarely taken as it is difficult to co ordinate who takes the photos and when. Paper community drug charts and paper referrals are time consuming in the community. We would benefit from electronic drug charts which can be emailed via nhs email account straight to a hand held device, send electronic referrals whilst with the patient and take photos of wounds on an electronic device.

•           What would help you do your job? More staff or Bank staff for days when we have sickness and study days, electronic devices which will reduce time of administrative duties. Travel time taken into account when visiting patients and patient dependency scores so time is allocated fairly.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to front line staff.

Kind regards,

Xxxx, band 6 community nurse.