The Lopez Lowdown – Dorset Community of Practice Update October 2026
The Lopez Lowdown
A blog by Nikki Lopez, GPN fellow (Nurse Manager for SCMG and Respiratory Nurse Specialist.)
Dear Colleagues,
Hello everyone,
I’m sending my October update a little early so you have time to book the training coming up on 1 October. You’ll find the details below.
I hope October isn’t too spooky! Looking further ahead, Stop the Pressure Week runs from 16 to 20 November 2026. It’s a chance to share learning about preventing pressure ulcers. The Lower Limb Study Day on 17 November is one of the opportunities in this update, and places need to be booked by 27 October.
Our first education session is here!
Dates for your diary
Following feedback from our Dorset Primary Care Nursing questionnaire, we are delighted to be starting our education programme for General Practice Nurses and the wider primary care nursing workforce.
Thursday 1 October 2026 | 1:00–2:00 pm | Online
Complex Leg Ulcers – Red Flags, Escalation and Referral
This is the first of our education sessions developed directly from what you told us you wanted: practical, clinically relevant education that you can take straight back into everyday practice.
Another fantastic education opportunity is coming up as part of Stop the Pressure Week. The Lower Limb Study Day, in partnership with OSKA, is open to all healthcare professionals across DorsetL
Thank you to everyone who completed our questionnaire.
We received 103 responses from across Dorset which is fantastic!
You told us you wanted:
- Clinical education
- Peer support
- Shared learning
- Networking
- Career development
- A stronger collective nursing voice
You also told us that time and access to protected learning remain significant barriers.
The GPN Clinical Fellows have now presented the findings from our 103-response questionnaire to the Dorset General Practice Alliance.
We shared what you told us about increasing workload and complexity, professional isolation, difficulties keeping up with changing guidance, burnout risk and the need for greater professional development.
Most importantly, we highlighted your need for protected time to learn, and we are taking the next step.
I will shortly be submitting a formal request to the Alliance for protected study and learning time for GPNs across Dorset.
- You asked for education → our education programme is starting.
- You asked for greater connection → our Community of Practice is developing.
- You asked for a stronger nursing voice → we took your findings to the Alliance.
- You asked for protected learning time → that is what we are taking forward next.
Have your say on the future role of the GPN
There is also some really relevant research taking place through Birmingham City University looking specifically at:
“What are the views of General Practice Nurses and General Practitioners when considering the future role of General Practice Nurses in relation to government policy and delivering healthcare to patients?”
The future of General Practice Nursing
The role of the GPN continues to evolve.
National policy is increasingly focused on moving care from hospital to community, from sickness to prevention and from analogue to digital.
GPNs are already managing increasingly complex long-term conditions, prevention, frailty, vaccination and screening, with growing opportunities in prescribing, advanced assessment and leadership.
If we expect GPNs to manage increasingly complex care, we must also invest in their skills and give them time to develop them.
Protected learning is not simply time away from clinical activity. A knowledgeable, confident and up-to-date nursing workforce can manage more care appropriately within primary care, make better use of skill mix and help protect wider practice capacity.
Building Our GPN Community
It has been fantastic to see the response to the Community of Practice so far.
The aim isn’t to create another layer of meetings or emails. It is to create something genuinely useful for GPNs, a network where we can connect, learn, ask questions, share experience and support each other.
General Practice Nursing can sometimes feel professionally isolated, particularly when you may be the only nurse undertaking a particular role within your practice. By connecting nurses across Dorset, we have an opportunity to make that professional network much stronger.
Together, these initiatives will improve communication, increase collaboration and help ensure that every GPN in Dorset feels connected, informed and supported throughout their professional journey.
We look forward to welcoming you to both the WhatsApp community and our education sessions.
If you have any questions, email: dorsetpcth@dorsetgp.nhs.uk
Nikki Lopez
Dorset GPN Workforce Clinical Fellow