Megan Ford

London

News Editor at Nursing in Practice

News Editor at The Pharmacist

News editor at Nursing in Practice and The Pharmacist - Have a story? Email me at [email protected]

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Articles

NHSE to ‘test’ use of health visitors in giving childhood flu vaccines

3 weeks ago | nursinginpractice.com | Megan Ford

NHS England is set to ‘test’ using health visitors to administer childhood flu vaccinations and other routine immunisations. The move has been announced within the new NHS urgent and emergency care plan 2025/26, published today. Backed by almost £450m investment, the plan promises to ‘expand’ urgent and emergency care facilities, reduce A&E wait times and push more urgent treatment into the community.
QICN unveils new ‘Faculty of General Practice Nursing’

3 weeks ago | nursinginpractice.com | Megan Ford

The Queen’s Institute of Community Nursing (QICN) has today launched a new ‘Faculty of General Practice Nursing’ – described as a ‘professional home’ for nurses in general practice. Outgoing QICN chief executive Dr Crystal Oldman said the new faculty comes as the organisation recognises general practice nurses (GPNs) are ‘at a disadvantage’ compared to colleagues working in the NHS, including in access to professional development opportunities.
Children born to women with obesity have higher risk of infection

3 weeks ago | nursinginpractice.com | Megan Ford

Children born to mothers with a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or over are at an increased risk of being admitted to hospital with an infection, a new study shows. The findings, published in BMJ Medicine, highlight the importance of women maintaining a healthy body weight before and after pregnancy.
Women less likely than men to be treated for heart condition

3 weeks ago | nursinginpractice.com | Megan Ford

Women are less likely than men to receive treatment for a form of heart valve disease, a new study supported by the British Heart Foundation reveals. The research showed that after a diagnosis of aortic stenosis, women are 11% less likely to be referred on to secondary care and 39% less likely to have a procedure to replace their aortic valve, when compared to men with the same diagnosis.
Third of practices considering replacing non-GP ARRS staff with GPs

3 weeks ago | nursinginpractice.com | Megan Ford

More than a third (37%) of GP practices in England are considering or have already started replacing non-GP Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) staff – which includes nursing staff – with GPs, a survey has shown. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said it continued to have ‘reservations’ about the ARRS and that any staffing changes must not come ‘at the expense of nursing roles’.
Health visitors facing caseloads of ‘up to 1,000’, MPs told

3 weeks ago | nursinginpractice.com | Megan Ford

Health visitors are facing ‘unmanageable’ caseloads with services at risk of ‘falling off a cliff’ without immediate action to improve workforce numbers, an influential committee of MPs has heard. The chief executive of the Institute for Health Visiting (iHV), Alison Morton, told the Health and Social Care Committee on Wednesday that health visitors in England are facing caseloads as high as 500, 750 and even 1,000 children each.
‘Effective contraception’ must be used by women on weight-loss jabs, warns MHRA

3 weeks ago | nursinginpractice.com | Megan Ford

Women using medicines for weight loss and diabetes have been urged to use ‘effective contraception’, in latest guidance from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The MHRA said weight-loss injections – also sometimes referred to as ‘skinny jabs’ – must not be taken during pregnancy, while trying to get pregnant or during breastfeeding.
NHS Unite members to be asked for views on strike action over pay

3 weeks ago | nursinginpractice.com | Megan Ford

NHS nurses who are members of the union Unite are to be asked whether they would be prepared to take industrial action over the 2025/26 pay award in England and Wales. Unite has urged NHS members in England and Wales to reject the 3.6% Agenda for Change pay rise in ballots set to open this month. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said the uplift was an ‘insult to NHS staff’ and would do ‘nothing to address low pay’ within the health service.
Welsh GP practices will be asked to confirm pay uplift is given to nurses

1 month ago | nursinginpractice.com | Megan Ford

GP practices in Wales will be asked by the Welsh Government to confirm that any agreed pay uplift has been passed on to general practice nurses (GPNs). It comes as the Welsh Government has accepted a 4% pay uplift for GPs for 2025/26, as per the recommendations of the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration. The Welsh Government is expected to enter negotiations for the 2025/26 GP contact over the summer.
‘No clear message’ from government on GPN pay, says RCN

1 month ago | nursinginpractice.com | Megan Ford

The government has been criticised for its lack of ‘clear’ messaging around a pay rise for general practice nurses (GPNs) for 2025/26. RCN England director Patricia Marquis also stressed that ‘guarantees’ must be put in place to ensure any uplift to the pay element of the GP contract will translate into a pay rise for general practice nursing staff this year.