What the shift from hospital to community meant to me

Open Doors has been a core support function for nurses making the transition from secondary care in hospitals to primary care in general practice. One such nurse, Vicky Tackley, shared her experience of becoming a practice nurse with the support of Open Doors and their one-to-one care.

Vicky Tackley spent 15 years working in secondary care and was working on a respiratory ward when she made the decision to move to primary care. She felt that progressing in her secondary care career meant she was "being moved away from patients".  

Vicky said: " I really value the one-to-one care [she can offer in primary care]. I feel I can give good patient care and spend time with people, recognising social health queries. I felt on the ward you’re getting so stretched that you end up doing the bare minimum in patient care."  

When asked what sparked the idea of moving to primary care, she mentioned that a practice nurse had suggested it when she visited her own GP.  A GP at Island Health General Practice suggested Open Doors.  

Going into primary care was not a quick transition. Despite her 15 years of experience in secondary care Vicky was surprised at how much was involved in the job. She joined Suttons Wharf General Practice in 2022 and completed her training in 2024. Vicky is now a senior practice nurse and supports a junior practice nurse herself.  

At the time of her training, Vicky was the only nurse at the practice and so having her one-to-one support with the clinical tutors was essential. “I learned so much from those sessions. [Open Doors] is there to help get practices to support you and find learning opportunities."

On working in Tower Hamlets, Vicky said that it was a full-circle moment as she had started her career at Barts NHS Trust. She said it’s “really positive to work in this area and meeting different people from different places. It makes things interesting for me. I have a natural curiosity and I’m interested in people which is the perfect fit for patient care in general practice.”

When asked if she was starting her journey again what would she do differently Vicky said she would do things the same way. “I would definitely go the secondary care and then Open Doors route. You need to have the support of everyone behind you, especially when your weekends are spent in study. I don’t know how colleagues do it in one year, but two years helps you get confident as you learn so much in practice.”  

Inspired by Vicky’s story? Head over to the Open Doors page to meet the team and find out more.  

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