District Nurses Safety On The Line

Our Nurses and District Nurses keep us safe and healthy in our times of need, but who is looking out for them?

District Nurses, or DN’s, are a team of nurses that are based in your local hospital, but they go out into the community, providing essential care to unwell and end of life patients, administering medications, redressing wounds and taking bloods in their own homes. I spoke to a District Nurse, who spoke about her job. But her nightly shifts are fraught with dangers and worries that highlights a very disturbing reality: the NHS does not keep her safe.

Speaking candidly, the nurse, who asked to protect her identity, said, “ I just don’t feel safe, I had to take my own torch out to houses which don't have an outside light, or flat buildings that have no night light after dark. It just isn’t good enough, I’m not being protected and I can feel it.

“Just last week, I was sent out to a house where I had to administer medication to an end of life patient, and the husband had shouted at me for not taking my shoes off, something we are told not to do, in case we step on something that could injure us. This man was really intimidating, shouting in my face, but I couldn’t leave. I had to give this woman her medication. I was scared stiff, shaking. I could hardly do the injections.” 

Credit: Imogen Baller

The role of District Nurses are crucial, especially for those housebound patients, unable to travel to GP surgeries or hospitals. However, for all their critical contributions to the NHS, their safety has taken a back seat.

Unlike other emergency responders, or out of hours GPs, they are not given a vehicle with essential equipment to perform assessments on patients, the nurse tells me she has to use her own family car. This leaves her worrying about the state of cleanliness in the car for her family and giving her mounting MOT and service bills to keep up with.

“They don’t give us body cameras like other emergency responders, to keep them safe. It’s my word against the patient’s in every situation, if anything does ever happen. They don't give us a driver like out of hours GPs get, no, I’m the driver. It’s all up to me to be smart and keep myself safe.

“It’s not just unfair and unsafe, it’s unsustainable.”

The troubling reality sheds a light on the need for systemic changes. As the NHS relies on District Nurses to bridge gaps in the healthcare system, they must also prioritise their safety. Without fair measures taken to protect our nurses as frontline workers, the risks will only get greater.