In line with Government advice, the QNIS team is now working remotely, as we endeavour to continue to support community nurses across the country.
The office number is 0131 229 2333 and this will be diverted to a staff member between the hours of 9am – 5pm Monday to Friday. If your query falls outwith these hours then please leave a voice message or email office@qnis.org.uk and we will respond during working hours.
We recognise that all community nurses and midwives are facing challenging times and our events and programmes are being scaled back to enable you to focus on supporting Scotland’s communities. We are here to listen to any concerns and support you as best as we possibly can.
We hope you will find useful information on this website in the form of resources we feel are relevant to share.
Below we hope to address any questions for all those connected to QNIS on what is happening with our ongoing work and programmes.
QNIS Conference
The conference scheduled for 1st April at BT Murrayfield has unfortunately been cancelled. We had been greatly looking forward to hearing from a diverse group of leaders and influencers to celebrate the roles of Scotland’s community nurses in this, the year of the nurse and the midwife. QNIS will continue to update you with news and stories on our website. We have asked those who were due to speak at the conference to share their presentations in video or blog format and we will post them online in due course. For those seeking a refund, please contact office@qnis.org.uk
The 2020 Queen’s Nurse Programme
The programme has got off to a great start with an inspiring week together at Balbirnie House. Candidates are now connected with coaches and will continue to be supported by regular telephone conversations. The June workshop is cancelled and it is hoped that the October residential workshop can be extended by a day to enable the inclusion of the content which would have been covered in June. To support candidates between now and then we are scheduling Zoom webchats for everyone to connect. The issues for development will naturally be taking second place to the urgent and present task of supporting Scotland’s citizens through the Coronavirus outbreak.
The 2020 Learning Disability Queen’s Nurse Programme
The selection event for this special Queen’s Nurse cohort has been postponed. All candidates have been notified and as soon as it’s possible to reconvene we will let everyone know. The programme will not be starting in June and as soon as new dates are set we will notify those involved.
Catalysts for Change
The Catalysts for Change (CfC) Steering Group met to review progress among the 11 projects for 2019/20. While pleased with the progress, along with our partners at The National Lottery Community Fund, we have decided to provide an automatic six-month extension to all projects. The launch of the next round of CfC projects (2020/21) has also been postponed until at least the end of the summer.
Complexity in Primary Care
The start of our exciting new project on Complexity in Primary Care, funded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing, will be delayed until after this summer. The community nurses serving the project’s intended beneficiaries – people with multiple morbidities, alongside personal adversities – will rightly be giving priority to the coronavirus pandemic. We understand they will not have the time or energy to become deeply engaged with this new QNIS project.
C3 CHESS project – Engaging Communities
The closing date for applications for this programme is no longer in place and the planned training event in May had been postponed. Those who have expressed an interest in this exciting joint piece of work with C3 will be notified as soon as we are able to reschedule.
Community Nursing Awards for Long Service
We are still accepting applications for Long Service Awards, although local awards events will be rescheduled. Please apply online and we will contact you when an event is planned in your area.
Retired Queen’s Nurses
The Annual Gathering at Crieff Hydro and the June Holiday for retired Queen’s Nurses for 2020 have been cancelled. We will continue to monitor the situation and we very much hope the September holiday will be able to go ahead as scheduled. An update will be sent in the Summer Newsletter.
Volunteer Visitors
In line with Scottish Government guidance, we have asked our volunteer visitors to cease offering visits in person and to stay in touch by phone with people they would normally visit.
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