Heartbeat: Wave goodbye to… Rasekhuta Phillistus Velempini

March 23, 2022

Rasekhuta Phillistus Velempini (Nee Lephalala) known to most as Phil, is retiring following a distinguished career in children’s nursing.

Born and educated in South Africa during the Apartheid era, Phil was among many Black South Africans in 1994 to take part in the first ever general elections in which citizens of all races were allowed to vote.

“I grew up living with my maternal grandparents in rural South Africa as a young carer but from a young age I was always caring and compassionate and this inspired me to follow my passion leading to my training as a general nurse, midwife, psychiatric nurse and later a children’s nurse”, said Phil, Matron – Neonatal Unit.

“My first post qualification job was in Maternity as a midwife for a year. I got great satisfaction working with women and their families during moments of profound transition and change in their life and was able to assist in the process.”

Phil’s paediatric nursing journey started in 1993 in South Africa. In 2002 she moved to the UK. For five years Phil worked in the private sector of nursing helping both adults and children post-surgery. It was in 2007 she joined the NHS and our Trust as a paediatric ward manager on Lyndon ground and then later on Lyndon 1.

In 2012, Phil became acting matron in paediatrics and three years later in 2015 Matron on the Neonatal Unit. When asked about working in the neonatal unit, she said: “Since 2015 the neonatal unit has been my second home and a family to me. We have dealt with some challenging situations, but I am very proud of our achievements. Some of the challenges were staffing levels which we managed to increase in line with national standards to improve the care of our neonates.

“Between 2020 and 2021, the neonatal community outreach (NCOT) service was developed and successfully launched at the start of this year which makes me feel I’m leaving the service with a sense of satisfaction for a job well done.”

During her time in neonates, Phil also worked very closely with maternity colleagues where she was on the on-call rota for maternity and neonatal areas supporting nurses and midwives in decision making out of hours.

She added: “Children’s nursing is an incredibly rewarding career where I have had the opportunity to not only take care of a child but also to provide care and guidance for the entire family which has been a true honour.

“I would like to thank everyone in neonatal, paediatrics, maternity and SWB as a whole, who have supported me during my time here. I wish them well and a safe move to the new hospital, MMUH (Midland Metropolitan University Hospital).”

Phil has been an invaluable asset to the Trust since joining and will be missed by many of her colleagues. Sonia Dhesi, Neonatal Sister is just one of those colleagues who has had the pleasure of working with Phil.

Sonia said: “Phil is a very dedicated and supportive matron. She works incredibly hard to ensure only the highest standard of care is being provided to our sick babies and their families.”

Carmen Nuttall, Neonatal Community Outreach Team Leader echoes these thoughts and said: “Phil has always shown great passion about neonates and cares about the families we look after which is fundamental in this type of role. She has also supported colleagues through implementation of the new service, empowering families to care for their babies at home whilst requiring neonatal care.”

Thank you, Phil, for your service – happy retirement!