Meet our lead practice nurse for our North Tyneside neighbourhood, Lisa Hutchinson

At Northumbria Primary Care, we have over 50 nurses within our workforce that do their very best to provide high quality and equitable care to our patients across Northumberland and North Tyneside.

To many, when they think about roles within primary care, they would usually think about a GP, however our nurses are crucial in the day-to-day running of Northumbria Primary Care and in providing patient care. Due to the growth of NPC, we introduced our neighbourhood approach in 2023, which means we can focus on the health and wellbeing of local populations/communities. With this new approach of delivering care, we thought it was important for each neighbourhood to have a lead nurse to represent the area and to make sure we provide high-quality care for our patients.

As part of the NPC Our Team series, we’ll be catching up with all our neighbourhood lead nurses so you can get to know a bit more about them, their experience and why they’re passionate about doing their role, raising the profile of primary care nurses and improving the health and wellbeing of our patients. To start off, we sat down with lead nurse for the North Tyneside neighbourhood, Lisa Hutchinson.

When did you first decide you wanted to be a nurse, and what inspired you?

I remember wanting to be a nurse from the age of four. I’ve always had a caring nature and was naturally drawn to a career focused on helping others. Watching the TV show Casualty as a child, I was inspired by the nurse Duffy. She was a strong leader who could handle any challenge but also had a compassionate side that really resonated with me.

Can you give some background about your career in nursing?

At 18, I started my nursing training. After completing my studies, I began my career in secondary care at the RVI Hospital in Newcastle. I started my career as a nurse on a care of the elderly ward and then 18 months later I moved to a surgical ward until 2012 which was when I made the move into primary care and joined the team at NPC Spring Terrace as a practice nurse.

I enjoyed working as part of a big team in secondary care and helping patients to recover from both emergency and elective surgery. I particularly enjoyed caring for patients undergoing surgery for breast cancer, it was very rewarding.

What do you enjoy most about being a primary care nurse?

I love providing continuity of care to our patients. It’s rewarding to support them through major life events, whether by creating a treatment plan for a minor illness or helping manage long-term conditions. In primary care, you really get to know patients and their families personally, which doesn’t happen as often in secondary care.

How does primary care nursing differ from secondary care?

 Secondary care nursing is focused on helping patients recover when they’re sick or if they have undergone surgery. In primary care nursing, we’re usually the first point of contact for patients and we can focus more on ill-health prevention and supporting our communities in leading healthier lifestyles. I like that primary care is more centred around prevention rather than treatment.

What are some misconceptions about primary care nursing, and why is it important to address them?

A common misconception is that primary care nursing is where nurses go toward the end of their careers. This isn’t true—primary care offers many opportunities for skill development. As Kaye Williams, our head of nursing, said previously, it’s important to showcase how nurses positively contribute to primary care and to raise awareness among students about opportunities available.

What was a significant milestone in your nursing career?

In May 2023, I was appointed as the lead nurse for all of Northumbria Primary Care. It was a huge milestone, and I was honoured to take up the position, but as NPC expanded and adopted a neighbourhood approach, we recognized that each neighbourhood needed its own lead nurse to drive the care of our communities forward.

Why is having a neighbourhood-specific lead nurse important?

Northumbria Primary Care covers a large geographical area, and a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work for community care. Having a lead nurse for each neighbourhood means we can focus on the needs of patients from a specific area and create a care model that meets these needs effectively and makes the best use of our resources to deliver high quality patient care.

What does a typical day as a lead nurse involve?

Although we provide care for different communities, a big part of my role is about checking in with the lead nurses to see if there are any issues to address in other neighbourhoods and how we can all provide support. It’s great to have that support from all the other lead nurses as you never feel like you’re on your own.

I also make sure that nurses are up to date with mandatory training and help my team care for patients for example supervising a practice nurse providing vaccines.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I’m very sociable, so I love spending time with friends, going for long walks, or catching up over a meal. I’m also a mam to two young children, so on weekends, you’ll find me cheering them on from the side lines during their football games.

And finally, with the festive season in full swing, how will you be spending Christmas this year?

This Christmas I will be spending time with my family that I am looking forward to and luckily, I’m not cooking!