District nursing
Throughout the world, policymakers are (belatedly) recognising the value of non-hospital care and shifting their focus to community services. Although the training of sufficient numbers of primary care physicians is one obvious priority, there is also a parallel need to sustain and develop clinicians from a variety of other disciplines. In the UK, there is a long tradition of nurses visiting patients at home to provide care, although national reports show decline in numbers and low morale in this district nursing workforce. A recent study of UK district nurses highlighted that major healthcare reorganisations and significant financial pressures have both had a big impact on services.1 In particular, …