District Nursing

The District Nursing Service is an essential part of the health and social care system providing expert person and family centered care to patients within their own homes through the provision of a wide range of nursing skills.

The District Nurse uses a population health based approach and proactively works with health care professionals, families, carers and communities to deliver expert, effective efficient care.

Neighbourhood District Nursing (NDN) is a new way of working which will provide a twenty-four hour a day, seven days a week, District Nursing Service. Neighbourhood District Nurses are part of a multi-disciplinary team built around GP practices, which enables patients and their carers to be the focus of care.

The NDN service is built around four core principles:

  • Person-centred – staff will work in partnership with patients and carers, providing support to manage conditions and stay at home whether they need urgent care, 24hr care, long term condition management or end of life care
  • Efficient and effective – patients will get safe, dignified and compassionate care by the right person with the right skills
  • Expert care – each District Nurse and their team will have the resources and expertise to deliver a world class service
  • Integrated and population based around General Practice – each GP practice will have a named District Nurse who will be the link between the GP and other members of the multidisciplinary team

  • Referral Criteria

    A referral can be made to the District Nursing Service if an adult requires a holistic person centred nursing assessment or a nursing intervention and meets one or more of the following criteria:

      • Is unable to leave their home due to mental or physical illness
      • Has a nursing need which makes a home visit more appropriate
      • Had been identified as having specific nursing equipment prescribed for home use
      • Has been identified as palliative or requires assessment of end of life care needs

    Referrals to the service can be made by GP practices, other professionals and the general public.

    As part of the referral process:

      • The person and/or carer must be aware of the consent to referral to the District Nursing Service
      • The persons address and contact details must be accurate
  • Referral Response

    The District Nursing Service does not operate a waiting list. Visits will be prioritised based upon reason for referral and accompanying information.  Visiting times and frequency will be agreed with the patient following assessment.

    The District Nursing Team will respond to a referral request within the following time frames:

      • SAME DAY (requires a visit on the day of referral): A nursing intervention is required to prevent a potential serious risk. The District Nursing team will triage the referral within 4 hours and action on the same day.
      • 48 HOURS (requires a visit within 48hrs please stipulate date): The District Nursing Team will triage the referral within 24 hours to determine the urgency of the referral and action within 48 hours.
      • ROUTINE/ NON URGENT (requires a visit in more than 48 hours or as determined by the District Nursing Team): The nursing intervention is not urgent in nature.  The District Nursing Team will triage the referral within 24-48 hours and schedule accordingly.

    ** The referrer will be contacted if this timeframe cannot be met or is deemed inappropriate by the triage nurse.**

  • Discharge Information

    A person will be discharged for the District nursing service when:-

    • Care has been completed; they can be clinically maintained in another care setting or the person/ carer/ family can self-manage
    • The person requests to be discharged from the service
    • The person transfers out of the GP Practise area resulting in alignment to another caseload holder trust
    • The person is deceased
  • Resources

    Click here for Patient Information Leaflet.

Contact Details

District Nursing Service

Monday to Friday,
9am-5pm

Call us(028) 9598 8098

Out of Hours

Down and Lisburn Areas:

Monday – Friday, 5pm-8am

Saturday – Sunday and Public holidays 24hours

Call us(028) 9598 8000

North down and Ards Areas:

Monday – Friday, 5pm-8am

Saturday – Sunday and Public holidays 24hours

Call us(028) 9182 2344