Recurring concern
Insufficient district nursing staffing capacity
- Reports that mention this concern
- 5
- Times this concern has been raised
- 5
- Stated actions linked to this concern
- 6
What this concern includes
Includes recurring shortages, under-resourcing, recruitment or retention deficiencies and inadequate staffing resilience specifically affecting district nursing services, including the anchor's under-resourced team and residual District Nursing Service staffing shortages.
What is not included
- Excludes generic healthcare or social-care staffing shortages where district nursing is not the specifically affected service.
- Excludes district nursing competence, communication, documentation, wound-care or referral failures where staffing capacity is not the shared unsafe condition.
- Excludes isolated staff absence or workload pressure unless it indicates a continuing district nursing staffing-capacity deficiency.
- Excludes staffing deficiencies in other community services, hospitals, prisons or care homes.
Trends
Reports over time
Reports mentioning this concern, over time
Reports about this concern issued each year.
* 2026 is projected from reports observed to 7 Sep 2026.
Most frequent recipients
Most frequent recipients
Reports about this concern sent to each recipient.
Reports and published responses 5 reports
See individual reports that have raised this concern, and the actions taken in response
-
Concerns raised1
Failure to maintain sufficient community nursing capacity for required patient appointments
Linked response
- Department of Health and Social Care
Stated actions An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.1
-
Department of Health and Social Care
Publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to support a sufficient and skilled NHS workforce.
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
-
Department of Health and Social Care
Responsibility for the number and quality of district nurses rests with local Integrated Care Boards and NHS trusts.
-
Concerns raised1
Under-resourcing of the district nursing team
This report raised 5 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Linked response
- East London NHS Foundation Trust
Stated actions An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.2
-
East London NHS Foundation Trust
Staff the dressing clinic with a substantive band 6 nurse under senior Trust community district nursing line management.
-
East London NHS Foundation Trust
Implement a dressing-clinic standard operating procedure providing 30-minute service-user appointment slots instead of 10-minute slots.
-
Concerns raised1
Insufficient District Nursing and Community Specialist Practitioner capacity to see patients in accordance with their needs
Linked response
- Department of Health and Social Care
Stated actions An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.2
-
Department of Health and Social Care
Move toward a neighbourhood health service by delivering more care in local communities and shifting resources over time to primary and community services.
-
Department of Health and Social Care
Train the staff the NHS needs to provide care when patients need it.
-
Concerns raised1
Residual staffing shortages in the District Nursing Service
Linked response
- Department of Health and Social Care
Stated actions An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.1
-
Department of Health and Social Care
Increase NHS nurse numbers, including community nursing capacity, to address staffing shortages.
-
Concerns raised1
Insufficient District Nursing Team staffing capacity for caseload demand
This report raised 4 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Linked response
- NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
-
NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board
The case findings were attributed to individual practice and awareness rather than District Nursing Service pressures, although wider pressures may have contributed.
Actions and positions describe what organisations say in published responses. Implementation is not independently verified.
Data last updated 7 September 2026