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Below you will find the latest blogs from .

COVID-19's impact on care homes was not inevitable

What national policymakers do to protect people who use and provide adult social care still matters – and the scale of the impact of COVID-19 on social care was not inevitable

End the hospice funding crisis – before it is too late

Sue Ryder Chief Executive Heidi Travis warns that funding hospices cannot be left solely to chance and charity

GP home visits – a necessity, not an indulgence

What a sad indictment it is of our society when GPs say they no longer have the capacity to offer care to the most vulnerable, those who are housebound and elderly.

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Thinking again about assisted dying

This week Parliament entered the debate on assisted dying, with many MPs arguing for a change in the current law. IN Editor Mike Shallcross explains why he believes it's time for a rethink

Dental care – a fundamental human right?

Good oral health should be seen as a fundamental human right; it is inseparable from a person’s general health and wellbeing. Nurses are ideally placed in making every contact count, particularly with regards to oral health, argues Ian Peate

Pressure ulcer prevention: what’s missing?

Despite substantial efforts to eradicate them, an estimated 200,000 pressure ulcers are experienced by patients each year at an estimated cost to the NHS of £1.4 million each day, not to mention the human impact they have on patients.

Where to find the missing nurses?

Independent Nurse editor, Mike Shallcross, discusses chronic nursing shortages facing the NHS

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Shining a light on Post-Polio Syndrome

Post-Polio Syndrome (PPS) affects lots of people, with an estimate of 120,000 sufferers in the UK. Those who previously contracted polio may be at risk of some of the devastating symptoms

Bringing palliative care back home

The discussions around palliative care might be focusing on the wrong thing writes Mike Shallcross

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Dignity in palliative care

A dignified death is a phrase familiar to health professionals. But do we know what it means?

NHS must evolve for an ageing population

For the first time in UK history, the population of people over 65 is greater than that of those under 16. This is a cause for celebration: more of us are living longer lives. However, with this new demographic profile, policy changes are urgently required.

The nuances of end-of-life care

As nurses, we are all aware that when delivering information, it is often not what we say but the way we say it that matters.

Community nurses will be integral to NHS sustainability

The recently published NHS England Five Year Forward View provides a great opportunity for nurses working in community and primary care services to become involved, if not to take the lead in the provision of new models of care.

Hidden army of carers in the UK

Last week I listened with interest to a news item focused on the lack of care given by families to their older relatives.

A good life with dementia

There has been much focus on the issue of dementia in the last five years from policy to front line practice.

Focus on providing quality elderly care

The care and health of the elderly, now Jeremy Hunt's focus for the next year, has received a fair amount of media coverage lately. In among all this, a tweet recently caught my attention.

A named clinician for every frail older person

On the 65th birthday of the NHS, the Secretary of State announced a new initiative for the support of the frail, older person to remain in their own homes and to avoid hospital admissions.

Talking changes everything in dementia

There are 800,000 people with dementia in the UK and the numbers are on the rise. Our research shows by 2021 there will be more than 1 million people living with the condition. Yet despite dementia affecting so many people, there is still a reluctance to