A route via general practice to being a political nurse

Hi everyone, my name is Ellen, and I’m one of the steering committee members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) General Practice Nursing (GPN) forum, and a former chair of the GPN forum.  

I’m a long-standing registered nurse, one of those who started out as an enthusiastic teenager who wanted to make a difference, and carried on and on, gaining nursing registration, Bachelors and Masters degrees, independent prescribing status, long term conditions and early years diplomas – lifelong learning definitely applies to me, there is always something new to learn and discover.

Along the way in my nursing career, I’ve been fortunate to work in management, academia, general practice, community, acute trusts, integrated care systems and now in a National Health Service (NHS) arm’s length body, as well as nursing in different countries. I’ve seen and experienced the NHS and the health and social care it delivers from multiple angles. Whilst that may not work for many, I am so glad I have had this experience as it has helped me to see a wider picture for healthcare.  

General practice, and out of hospital care has been a decades long passion. I am zealous about the delivery of accessible good quality health and preventative care being offered by professionals, general practice nurses, doctors advanced clinical practitioners etc. close to where people live and work, in environments where people are known, and their circumstances understood. What I mean by this, is that in my work in general practice, someone would talk about a health issues, such as asthma, but their asthma was affected by their housing situation, for example, mould in a private rental. So, whilst I could prescribe inhalers and explain techniques, I couldn’t fix the other issues, which frustrated my sense of social justice, and the funding for primary care has been a tiny proportion of the overall NHS budget.

I had the opportunity to be involved in nursing activism through the RCN, #scrapthecap campaigns and spearheading for recognition of GPN both inside and outside the RCN, in NHS England and in government. General practice nurses deliver millions of appointments each month but receive little recognition for their contribution. I’ve worked with the forum and the RCN, and gradually as we’ve spoken up some change has happened, now there is a workstream for independent nurses in the RCN, and government know about the challenges with GPN pay issues. 

It was issues like this, that made me realise that nursing and all healthcare is about political decision making and choices made within central and local government that affect the health and social care and wellbeing of our patients. Politics and governmental decision-making influence us as a nursing profession, impacting on funding, resources, and our ability to our job well.

Another example is we know access to green spaces is important for mental health and wellbeing, play and activity levels which all impact our health, but green spaces in our towns sit under local councils and national government legislation, not under healthcare. This could equally apply to housing or to education too. So, for me, my nursing career now runs alongside a political career, where I can influence and affect changes within the environment that will impact our patients (residents) health and wellbeing. 

Nurses often view themselves as patient advocates, so it’s not surprising that I’ve taken it a step further into political activism at community and societal level, because it is in keeping with wanting to affect change for my patients/residents. For me it is critically important that nurses inform and advance public policy, through direct political activities. Alongside my NHS work and RCN activism, I’m now a borough councillor, deputy council leader with portfolio responsibilities for health and wellbeing, communities and leisure, an awesome (and sometimes difficult) responsibility affecting around 100,000 residents in my local area. I can use my nursing expertise to shape the dialogue and provide an evidence base to help colleagues in local and national government and in business understand the need and impact of changes to benefit health and wellbeing of our wider communities. 

If you’ve found my blog interesting and want to know more, please do get in touch with me. I am always happy to discuss health and social care and the political ramifications of choices.

Does it always go the way I want in local government and in my NHS work, well no, but then what is life without a bit of challenge, but at the end of my career when I hang up my registration, I’ll be able to say that I’m proud to have tried to affect change that helps others through both nursing and politics.