Community nurses must use past challenges to shape the future, says health expert

Speaking at the annual conference of Unite/Community Practitioners’ and Health Visitors’ Association (CPHVA), Laura Serrant-Green, professor of community and public health at the University of Lincoln, said: "We need to know where we came from in order to know where we go next.

"The past tells us where we’ve been and we need to use that to move forward. If we don’t look at the past we’re condemned to repeat it.

"There have always been community health challenges – in the 1980s it was inequalities in health. In the 1990s and today it is the cost of the NHS but to some degree our rising costs are a celebration of our success."

She added that a new story is needed for community nursing that "embraces health and social care aspects of the community because that’s where our future is".

She said part of the work of community nurses is to future-proof community care and advise local authorities.

"Part of our work is moving to being funded by local authorities," she added. "That’s both a threat and a positive move. Local authorities will need help to decide how to do it and it is our job to meet with them and steer them.

"We need to be innovators, care champions and entrepreneurs as we look to the future."