Tuesday 25 August 2020 - Chief Nurse's Blog
When I started my maternity leave early on 27 December 2019 due to the Alara’s sudden arrival, I could not have imagined how much the landscape of healthcare was going to change. COVID-19 has changed so much for so many and has provided the NHS with one of the biggest challenges in its history.
As I am about to return to work as Chief Nurse for the first time since the pandemic hit, I am filled with an overwhelming sense of pride. Everyone at UHDB has done an incredible job throughout the year in continuing to provide excellent, compassionate care to our patients often in the most challenging of circumstances.
It was hard for me to stop myself from coming in to the hospital during this time, as I wanted nothing more than to come in support and work alongside you, but emergency surgery and my mum’s stroke put a stop to that. I kept connected with many of you on Twitter and watched in awe as you pulled together to embrace the challenges and put our patients first.
Everyone has their own COVID story, each with its own unique challenges and obstacles to overcome, but you have all met these head on and conducted yourselves with the utmost integrity and for that I would like to say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
To all of those who were redeployed to new areas, such as Intensive Care, where you quickly adapted and learned new skills to provide high quality care to the most acutely ill patients throughout this pandemic. To the wards who changed specialities, or became cohort wards, working in new ways and encountering new scenarios, but continuing to provide exceptional care for our patients. The way you have all embraced change and kept on going is admirable.
I would like to pay tribute to the whole Chief Nurse Leadership Team, with a special thanks to Krishna Kallianpur, who stepped into the role of Interim Chief Nurse at this unprecedented time. We certainly didn’t expect a global pandemic when she took over the reins, but the way in which she has dealt with the situation will make it all the more difficult to say goodbye to her at the end of September when she leaves UHDB to become Chief Nurse at Chesterfield Royal Hospital.
Krishna has been part of the NHS here in Derbyshire and Staffordshire for many years, more recently working as a Divisional Nurse Director and Director of Nursing for Professional Standards. It has been wonderful to see Krishna flourish in the Chief Nurse role over the last eight months.
I am sure that you will all join me in wishing her the very best – our colleagues in Chesterfield are gaining a wonderful Chief Nurse.
It is not just Krishna, however, who is starting a new chapter and there are many others who I would like to thank for their unwavering service and dedication to UHDB and the NHS as they take retirement.
Jim Murray, our Director of Nursing for Operations, is retiring after 38 years’ service in the NHS. I have had the pleasure to work with Jim for many years previously at NUH as Divisional Clinical Leads and for the last seven years as my Deputy and literally my right arm. Jim has been an amazing leader, colleague and role model for many. He took on the role of Chief Nurse at RDH during my maternity leave three years ago and helped guide us through the merger, working as Chief Nurse at Burton in 2018. Jim has been a real asset to the Trust, particularly during the pandemic; his experience and compassion are exemplary.
Our Director of Midwifery, Jane Haslam, is also taking retirement in the coming weeks, but I’m delighted to say that she will be returning part-time in a new role as the Lead Midwife for the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST). Jane has been a part of the NHS for 38 years and has played a crucial role in leading and developing Maternity and Children’s Services, representing the Trust locally, regionally and nationally. She has been pivotal in the lives of so many women and their babies during this time and will be sorely missed by her friends and colleagues.
Penny Owens, Director of AHPs, has also retired this month and is another member of #TeamUHDB who will be missed dearly. After a career spanning 43 years in the NHS, Penny worked her last day as Director of AHPs in mid-August. Her career started in Birmingham as a Diagnostic Radiographer, developing into a range of leadership roles, including as General Manager for Imaging in Derby, prior to her appointment as the first Director of Allied Health Professionals for UHDB in July 2018. Since then she has championed the importance of AHPs and Healthcare Scientists across the organisation in addition to helping to lead the Cancer, Diagnostic and Clinical Support Divisional team.
I would like to thank each and every one of you for your friendship, commitment, drive and leadership.
As we say goodbye, we also welcome some new faces into new those roles. I’m delighted to announce that Grace Pearn, a familiar face to many at the Trust, will become our new Director of AHPs. Patricia Payne will take the reins as Director of Midwifery, and Philip Bolton will join us from Sherwood Forest Hospitals FT on an interim basis as Interim Deputy Chief Nurse alongside Gill Ogden.
I’m sure you’ll join me in congratulating our colleagues on their new positions and welcoming those who are new to UHDB to make them feel right at home.
This year has been something of a rollercoaster for us all, but you have shown why UHDB is such a special place to work.
I am really looking forward to coming back and supporting you as we continue to navigate our way through the pandemic and the months ahead.
Kindest regards.
Cathy