The case for implementing nurse-led vascular access service teams

Post-pandemic, the UK National Infusion and Vascular Access Society (NIVAS) recognised that vascular access as a specialty had been invaluable in supporting the care and survival of hospitalised patients with COVID-19. At its national conference this year, NIVAS (Barton, 2022) launched a strategy to ensure that provision of vascular access is included in future NHS plans. The society has taken the first steps to help achieve this goal, with a white paper that advocates for standardised vascular access services teams (VAST) across the NHS.

The Benefits of a Nursing Led Vascular Access Service Team (Barton, 2022) acknowledges the current pressures of restarting the NHS following the pandemic and the roadmap to reducing the elective waiting lists, arguing that VASTs can be part of attaining this. The NIVAS paper outlines how integrating a standardised model of VAST in NHS systems will benefit patients and new integrated care systems (ICS), as well as the wider objectives of the NHS.