With NHS Protect closing, how can the NHS help protect its lone workers now?

Lone workers are the lifeblood of the NHS. Reaching out to the vulnerable and those in need at all times, day and night, they often travel alone and can be as vulnerable as the people they are charged with looking after.

So it was somewhat of a surprise when the Health Service Journal revealed that NHS Protect, the national body that leads on work to protect NHS staff and resources from crime, was to close – especially as there has been a rise of nearly a quarter in assaults on NHS workers since 2010, with over half of nurses reporting physical or verbal abuse from patients and more from members of the public whilst on duty.

Lone workers need protection, and part of NHS Protect's work involved administering lone worker protection support services. No agency is currently in place to provide a direct replacement of its services. Future plans for the service are unclear, but the service is definitely not going to the remit of the successor the NHS Protect, the NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA). NHSCFA will focus on combatting fraud and protecting property.

UNISON head of health Christina McAnea reacted strongly, as she noted that the number of assaults on NHS staff were increasing. She noted that the closure of NHS Protect "sends the wrong message to employees that the NHS values its buildings more than staff safety."

NHS trusts will still have responsibilities under health and safety legislation to ensure that lone workers have the necessary protection. But the removal of this central support could look worrying; especially in the light of the recent report on the NHS from the House of Lords, which noted that the absence of any comprehensive national long-term strategy to secure the appropriately skilled, well-trained and committed workforce that the health and care system will need over the next 10–15 years as "the biggest internal threat to the sustainability of the NHS."

The commitment of the workforce may falter if they believe they are not being given the appropriate levels of care they need, and ensuring this workforce is adequately protected in the delivery of care needs to be part of an updated workforce strategy.

New technology offers a solution for lone workers

So, what can NHS trusts in England do now? Rather than see the closure of NHS Protect as a problem, trusts should see this as an opportunity to embrace the need for a refreshed approach to supporting the needs of both care givers and care receivers from across the health and care economy.

Workforce needs are changing. As we move towards more integrated care under the direction of sustainability and transformation partnerships (STPs), we need people who can safely and confidently provide a range of care closer to home, and access the right information and resources to help the people they care for.

As noted in the Integration and the Development of the Workforce report from Skills for Health and Justice: "Whether it is enabling patients to monitor their conditions and send the data to a central point, or allowing team members to remain in contact with the centre, the effective exploitation of these [technologies] is critical to the development of ‘place-based’ integrated care."

Working with their STP colleagues, trusts and other providers such as domiciliary care agencies in the STP footprint can use technology to look at how they can best manage the care that is being delivered, recording when and where care is needed, and deploying resources accordingly. This can help current issues such as missed home visits, for example, which cause distress for the vulnerable, as well as help increase the efficiency of care at a time of considerable financial pressure.

And those who receive care should be part of this activity. Many home visits are unnecessary and duplicated by different providers. As the Care Quality Commission found in its State of Care report, allowing staff enough time to have meaningful discussions about their needs and preferences contributes to outstanding person-centred care. Now an individual, and their loved ones, can work with care providers to design the home care that suits them, potentially allowing for those longer visits, and moving away from pre-defined rosters that can make some face to face visits unnecessary.

Technology can support all of the above, and, as many STPs and providers are realising, the right platform needs to be in place to help share information, to record when home visits take place, and to show where staff are at any one time to help better protect them. Care receivers can use the same services and work with their providers to design care around their needs.

Using the technology on offer, the NHS now has a great opportunity to take the protection and support of its mobile workforce in its own hands, so that it can properly realise the vision for integrated care that the Five Year Forward View demands.