Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 17 May
May 20, 2024
On two successive Sundays, the 5th and 12th of May, the world of healthcare has celebrated International Day of the Midwife and International Nurses Day, respectively. In this week’s Friday Message, I would like to reflect these distinct and proud professions and the role they play in helping us to deliver high quality care for our patients and our population.
Firstly, lets reflect on the unique profession that is midwifery. I am married to a midwife, an individual who deliberately left her career as an NHS general manager, to study and train for three years to become a midwife. I have never seen such dedication and single-mindedness in the pursuit of a professional goal and when one reflects on what midwives do, I can understand where that dedication came from.
We are always taught that pregnancy is a physiological condition, not an illness and as a result, the midwife has a unique role in being the expert in childbirth. They provide the continuity of care through pregnancy, through childbirth and post-natally too. Where obstetric or other medical involvement is necessary, the midwife continues to be responsible for providing holistic support, maximising continuity of carer and promoting a positive birth experience for the woman. It is worth noting I think, that we differ positively from for example, the US healthcare culture, by not over-medicalising our maternity care, relying far more overtly on the continuity of care and advocacy that the midwife provides.
Secondly, lets talk about our nursing colleagues. Nursing is the bedrock of NHS care. Nursing care is the foundation of what most other care interventions are based on. Our nursing colleagues make up the majority of our workforce and have, in recent decades, become extremely specialised on occasion and take many different forms. At their heart however, nurses use evidence-based knowledge, professional and clinical judgement to assess, plan, implement and evaluate high-quality person-centred care. Like midwives for pregnant people, nurses are the patient’s advocate in care prescription and provision.
I have had the privilege of working with some wonderful nursing colleagues during my 31 years in the service. Some amazing nurses specialists, inspirational nurse leaders, nurses who have gone on to become executive directors and chief executives. Often, the nurses who inspire me the most are those colleagues who consciously choose not to sub-specialise or to take leadership roles. Instead, the provide a different form of leadership – advocacy for the patient in the provision of day-to-day care.
We had a fantastic day yesterday, celebrating nursing and midwifery with a well-attended and raucously celebrated pair of recognition awards ceremonies at City Hospital. Here are some photographs of the event, which the Trust Chair and my executive colleagues, were delighted to support and attend.
Thank you, nurses and midwives, for your care, skill, compassion and dedication. Its right to celebrate your contribution, this week.
Richard