We would like to introduce you to the Helensburgh and Lomond District Nursing Team who are based in the Jeanie Deans building at the Victoria Integrated Care Centre in Helensburgh.
The team consists of District Nurses, Community Staff Nurses, Healthcare Support Workers and the team is also supported by an administrative officer.
Team Leader, Ann Marie Ross, who has worked in the NHS for over 40 years and has a wide range of experience in nursing both in the community and in hospital settings said: “We have a great District Nursing Team here in the Helensburgh and Lomond area and they all bring with them a wide range of skills and experiences which greatly helps us in our day-to-day job of caring for the people who need our services.
“It is very important and beneficial to our patients and their families that we are able to provide care in the local community wherever possible and we deliver nursing and healthcare services to patients who are housebound, either living in their own homes or in a care setting, and who are therefore unable to attend their GP Practice for the nursing care that they require.
“Some examples of the care we deliver include management of long-term conditions such as diabetes, acute and chronic wound care, nursing support for people who have recently been discharged from hospital and guidance on self-management of care for patients and their carers.
“The team also deliver compassionate, experienced nursing care and support throughout the stages of a patient’s palliative journey through to end of life and bereavement support. It is extremely important to us to fulfil our patient’s wishes to be cared for at home and with the support of our Health Care Support Workers and MacMillan Nurse Specialist we endeavour wherever possible to enable this.
“As advances in medical treatments continue and the needs of our patients change, the services that we deliver are becoming increasingly complex and we are therefore continuously undertaking advanced training to ensure our knowledge and skills meet these needs.
“The team are caring, compassionate and fully skilled in all that they do and I am extremely privileged to work with them. We have good relationships with our patients, and their families, some of whom we have known over many generations and are happy to be able to support them.”
Community Staff Nurse Margaret Jackson adds: “We have a great team, and we all work together to make sure that the people in our community who need our help receive the care that they require.
“It’s a really satisfying job and meeting so many different people with their own stories and experiences is something that makes it all worthwhile.”