Research by the Royal College of Nursing shows that every rheumatology specialist nurse increases efficiency in the NHS by a quarter of a million pounds each year.
The UK-wide study - Clinical nurse specialists: adding value to care - monitored the working pattern of rheumatology specialist nurses over a year using a software-based modelling tool to determine how their time is spent. The RCN says the report adds to the existing and growing evidence of the economic value of specialist nurses and is calling on politicians to recognise the need to maintain their numbers
The RCN has recently warned that cutting specialist nurse services for people with long-term conditions would be a false economy and is now calling for this research methodology to be rolled out to cover all specialist nurses to identify the true extent of savings that could be made. RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary Dr Peter Carter says:
“This study looks at the value of specialist nursing in just one specialty. However, we know that similar findings could be found in other areas. For example, providing community-based care for people with Parkinson’s disease alone could save the government £56 million a year, not to mention reducing the distress to patients and families. When you add up the estimated value of specialist nurses working in the numerous disease specialties, we could well be looking at a billion pounds in total.”
In its election manifesto, Nursing counts, the RCN is calling for every patient with a long-term condition to have guaranteed access to specialist nursing care. Specialist nurse posts save millions of pounds from health budgets through reduced complications, fewer hospital re-admissions and the expert long term management of conditions. They also provide many patients and families with a lifeline which no other service can offer.
A recent RCN survey of 60 leading health organisations representing thousands of people with a long-term condition found that only a third of respondents felt that everyone who needed specialist nursing currently received it.
Further information
By managing the bulk of the outpatient workload, rheumatology specialist nurses free up hundreds of appointments for new patients to be seen by a consultant – this represents a saving of £175,168 per nurse each year through increased efficiency. Additionally, as a result of the telephone support specialist nurses provide, many GP appointments can be freed up for other patients, equating to a further £73,588 saving per nurse.
The research published today also found that providing administrative support for rheumatology specialist nurses would free up more than six hours of their working week, meaning they could devote even more time to patient care, resulting in further savings to the NHS.
Published: 26 April 2010
