The Evening Community Nursing service has moved from DHU Health Care from Derby City to streamline out of hours nursing care across Derbyshire.
DHU Health Care has provided out of hours nursing care across Derbyshire since 2001, with the exception of Derby City where community nursing has been provided by Derbyshire Community Health Service.
The nurses have now moved across meaning that all out of hours community nursing in Derbyshire will now be provided by DHU Health Care to ensure a more joined up approach, greater opportunities to provide cover at busy times and streamline the service.
A more joined up service
Tracy Steadman is the Head of Community Nursing for DHU Health Care, she said: “We’ve been looking at how the services work and the potential benefits of bringing all out of hours community nursing under one management team. DCHS has provided a superb service for Derby but splitting county and city services no longer seemed like the most efficient way to run a service at a time when we’re looking for a more joined up approach.
“Having two teams meant operating two different systems which made it much harder for nurses in Derby to work together and support each other when needed. By working together, we have ensured a smooth transfer of colleagues to DHU, and now patients across Derbyshire will be receiving an equitable service.”
The county team transferred over to DHU in 2011 so the management team have experienced this type of move before and have been able to support the new team in their transition. A number of meetings took place with the staff involved and they were encouraged to visit DHU at the Johnson Building in Derby which is now their new base.
There is currently a large group of nurses and health care assistants working for DHU covering the evening and overnight period in the county, and the overnight period in the city. By the city evening team now joining DHU, there is now the opportunity to work across the area, providing care to patients and deploying the staff according to patient needs.
More support for nurses and patients
Tracy added: “A number of our nurses were involved in the transfer of services from county to DCHS ten years ago so know the process and have been reassured that terms and conditions will remain. They also know that the move will be of benefit to patients and increase the level of support available to both sets of community nurses.
“From April it means that if there is capacity for our teams to support each other, we can reach them easily and redeploy. It gives us the ability to provide a greater provision of community nursing more quickly in any given area due to having increased teams covering the area.”
A spokesperson for Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The professionalism and adaptability of Derby and Derbyshire’s community nurses in meeting the needs of local patients in the best way possible is second to none. Increasingly we are working collectively as part of Joined Up Care Derbyshire in the way care is organised so that patients receive the most seamless service possible. This organisational adjustment in how out-of-hours frontline nursing care is managed in Derby is part of that wider process of collaborative system-working. We are proud of the teams who are doing such a brilliant job of providing this care.”
The nurses are now based in Derby, having moved from their DCHS base at London Road to the Johnson Building on Pride Park.
Publish date: 19 May 2022