Resources

Here, Nicki Haywood, founder and director, The Honeycomb Foundation community interest company (CIC), shines a spotlight on loneliness and social isolation in the workplace and explains why acknowledging it, both as a common experience and health concern, is a way to start tackling it. Please note that personal information about bereavement is included that some readers might find difficult.

As 2022 comes to an end, thinking back, I was hopeful this time last year that we would soon return to ‘normality’ post Covid. However, lives this year have been different and we have certainly encountered new and unexpected challenges. This issue’s ‘community matters’ piece (pp. 8–11) reflects on the cost-of-living crisis, which has become a serious issue for everyone and seems set to continue well into the new year.

As we drift inexorably towards Christmas on a wave of sentimental TV adverts and
last-minute shopping panic, there is one question on everyone’s lips (and no, it is not ‘How did Matt Hancock finish third in the jungle?’).

The pandemic has undoubtedly had catastrophic effects on the health and wellbeing of
the population. This will continue to unravel for years to come, so it is understandable that health and social care staff are still trying to unpack, unpick and attempting to make sense
of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

When I applied to become a Queen’s Nurse in 2020, I had no idea where this journey was going to take me — it certainly has become a fulfilling accolade with many opportunities.
From a project that identified, coded and introduced an emotional health and wellbeing check for Military Veterans, to now being awarded an Elsie Wagg (Innovations) Scholarship
from the National Garden Scheme and Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI), to create a sensory garden space using Military Veterans and learning disability patients.

The impact of the menopause, particularly in the workplace, has only recently been given
the attention it deserves. Seventyfive percent of the NHS’s workforce are women, and for nurses working in the community the figure is even higher (NHS England, 2021). ‘Women’
includes transgender, non-binary and intersex staff. The NHS and clinical leaders have responded to concerns and the menopause guidance for the NHS workforce managers was launched in November 2022 (NHS England, 2022).

Many people across the UK live with poor bowel health, suffering with chronic constipation and/or faecal incontinence, which can be debilitating and prevent those suffering from enjoying their best life possible. The ‘Cost of Constipation Report’ (2020), published by the Bowel Interest Group, documents that in fact one in seven adults are affected by constipation at any one time; while many people suffer in silence (Bowel Interest Group, 2020).

Wound management is increasingly falling to those who are not wound care specialists (Guest et al, 2020).