NHS Lanarkshire has welcomed more than 40 new community nurses to support the delivery of the Primary Care Improvement Plan (PCIP). Their roles will include delivering services across all communities in Lanarkshire. As part of the PCIP they will be involved in community treatment and care, urgent care and the Vaccination Transformation Programme (VTP).
The VTP is part of the Primary Care Improvement Plan which is implementing the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract, where some aspects of care and treatment currently carried out by GPs will be carried out by members of the wider primary care multi-disciplinary team.
One of the first jobs for the nurses is to deliver the flu vaccination programme for 65 to 74 year olds. This year, for the first time, NHS Lanarkshire staff are delivering the flu vaccine instead of GP practice staff. This is the first step towards NHS Lanarkshire providing all flu vaccinations in the coming years. After the flu season the nurses will continue to support the delivery of community services associated with the PCIP.
The nurses attended a three-day induction programme, the first of its kind for community staff in Lanarkshire. This will be supplemented by additional training days in the coming months.
Maria Docherty, Nurse Director, South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership, commented: “I would like to extend a very warm welcome to all the nurses who have recently joined us. They are such an important part of our new way of working and in the delivery of the new GP contract. This is a really exciting time in primary and community care and there are lots of nursing opportunities available.”
There are currently a number of nursing roles available in Lanarkshire. These include healthcare support workers, registered nurses and advanced nurse practitioners. For more information on the jobs available, visit www.jobs.scot.nhs.uk and search for ‘Nursing and midwifery’ jobs in Lanarkshire.
The PCIP will oversee a number of changes in primary care across Lanarkshire, to make sure that patients see the right person, in the right place, at the right time. This may not always be a GP – it could be an advanced nurse practitioner, pharmacist or another member of the wider primary care team. This means that GPs have more time to spend with the patients who need to see them.
For more information on Lanarkshire’s Primary Care Improvement Plan, visit www.thisislanarkshire.org or follow @LanPCIP on Twitter.
