Nick Seddon, senior health advisor to Prime Minister David Cameron, has praised the Havering district nurse service for the outstanding care it provides to patients in their own homes.

The service provided by the district nursing team was showcased to Mr Seddon, when he went on home visits to patients with district nurse Liz Alderton last Friday (January 9).

District nurses play a crucial role in the primary health care team. They visit people in their own homes or in residential care homes, providing increasingly complex care for patients and supporting family members.

They also play a vital role in keeping hospital admissions and readmissions to a minimum and ensuring that patients can return to their own homes as soon as possible.
Mr Seddon chose to go on the home visits with Liz Alderton as she is also a Queen’s Institute Nurse. The Queen’s Institute Nurse programme gives special recognition to nurses who develop their professional skills and promote the highest standards of patient carer.

Nick Seddon saw a range of patients, including some who have diabetes, complex wounds, a patient with very complex needs and two palliative patients under the age of 45 who required symptom control.

Mr Seddon said: “Liz Alderton and the Havering district nursing service are providing good standards of care to patients, that I wanted to see for myself and to also discuss best practice in district nursing. They are all clearly doing a great job and this should be celebrated.”

This is the second time in recent months the Havering district nurse service has received high profile praise. David Foster, deputy director of nursing for the Department of Health, said the service ‘is outstanding’ after spending a morning with the team last June.

Liz said: “It was great for Mr Seddon to see the services we provide, which help people avoid hospital admissions and readmissions.”

Mr Seddon also met Bernie Wrobel, clinical cluster lead, Havering, and other members of the integrated team with Liz Alderton at the Harold Hill health centre to discuss best practice in district nursing.

Dr Crystal Oldman, chief executive of the Queen’s Institute, said: “Nick Seddon fed back to us after the visit with the Havering district nursing team that it was one of the most engaging shadowing visits with a clinician he had ever had.”

Karen Shepherd, integrated community services manager, Havering, added: “The Havering district nurse team do a great job caring for patients in their own homes and it is fantastic their work and the work of Liz Alderton has been recognised by Nick Seddon.”

For more information about the Queen’s Institute visit www.qni.org.uk