Nursing in Practice is conducting a quick survey for practice nurses to share their views about triage and face-to-face appointments during the Covid-19 pandemic.
NHS England advised practices in March 2020 to move to a ‘total triage’ service, either by phone or online, and undertake care remotely wherever possible. Although, because of the nature of their job, many practice nurses have continued to do a high number of face-to-face appointments throughout the pandemic.
A controversial letter sent to general practice earlier this month said practice patients must now be offered face-face appointments if that is their preference, unless they are deemed an infection risk. This has caused a lot of anger and concern among practitioners this would put practice staff at risk.
We would like to know how you, practice nurses, feel about triaging and face-to-face appointments, and your experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic, in the Nursing in Practice survey, which will run until Friday 4 March.
Nursing in Practice editor Emily Twinch said: ‘There has been uproar among GPs about the push for more face-to-face appointments, although we know nurses have been doing many of them during the pandemic.
‘This is a chance for nurses to have their say – so you can tell us whether you feel you have had to conduct too many face-to-face appointments and if you have felt at risk, or maybe you have preferred it to triage.
She added: ‘For some triage working was new and came suddenly. We would like to know how you have coped with it, and whether it has helped you in your work, or hindered you.’
Nursing in Practice has previously published survey results on GPN working conditions during the pandemic, which revealed nurses feel undervalued, particularly for the face-to-face appointments they were doing.
We have also surveyed readers on racism experienced by nurses and midwives and workloads for care home staff since the Covid-19 outbreak.
Click here to complete the Nursing in Practice survey by 4 June. It should only take around five to ten minutes to answer the questions.
