Briefing / Measuring the economic value of community nursing

NHS community services are an essential part of national ambitions to support people to manage their conditions, prevent ill health and deliver care closer to home. Community nurses are central to the care delivered for many people, across a broad range of conditions and needs. If further proof were needed of the importance of the community sector, the response to Covid-19 has been underpinned by a robust offering by the sector, allowing earlier discharge from acute settings and managing a range of complex conditions which would previously have been unheard of to manage outside of hospital. Community staff, and community nurses, have risen to the challenge and demonstrated their value.

We know this to be true, but anecdotes do not support business cases. A feeling that community nursing is important does not allow investment to be committed to the service. How do we quantify the difference that a community nurse makes? How do we demonstrate the economic value of community nursing? These were the questions addressed at a roundtable hosted by the HFMA in 2021, with a mixed group of directors of nursing, directors of finance and subject matter experts.

This briefing describes the key points raised at the roundtable and an overview of the challenges identified. It also includes other sources of information identified by the HFMA where they add to the understanding of the topic. The briefing does not present a solution to understanding the economic value of community nursing, rather it is a starting point to scope the challenge ahead.