I express my sincere thanks to the Florence Nightingale Foundation, the trustees and sponsors for offering such a wonderful experience for NHS leaders but also for seeing something in me that was worth offering a scholarship. Thanks to Professor Elizabeth Robb and Sue Machell who have given me advice, support and guidance throughout the year.
Without the financial support of the sponsors the London Network for Nurses and Midwives and the support and trust of David McVittie, Chief Executive, London North West Healthcare NHS Trust (previously Ealing Hospital NHS Trust) I would not have been able fully to utilise the experience of the scholarship. Therefore I thank them all.
There have been many people involved in my scholarship and all have made some impact on me. There are too many to name in person: midwives; lecturers; travel hosts; fellow scholars; other course participants; my line manager, Rosemary Heed; and people I shadowed, for example, Donna Ockenden and Tracy Parr. My sincere thanks extended to them all.
Finally I thank Mary Wells, my mentor for being so approachable and supportive. I have learnt from her sound advice, keeping me grounded and focused and always challenging me.
At the start of the scholarship I was working as Head of Midwifery at Ealing Hospital which was facing closure of the Maternity Unit. The main priority during the year was to ensure that we continued to provide a safe service and that staff were supported throughout the change.
I wanted to present the case for a freestanding birth centre to be left on the site of the current service and so I wanted to research the different models of midwifery led care. I especially wanted to focus on countries that have freestanding birth centres with transfer distances further than those in London.
My identified leadership development need was building resilience, being influential and ensuring the maintenance of a service during organisational change.
During my appraisal I discussed the need to develop my personal appearance and influence, but also develop the ability to make an impression. It was interesting to see that these areas were also highlighted in my 360 assessment together with the need to improve my corporate image. Development of my strategic understanding was also highlighted as a priority.
Throughout the year I have attended many courses to support my development objectives and specifically developed resilience as part of the Cranfield course. I have also learnt about non-verbal cues during RADA and ways to use these effectively. Finally I learnt about improving corporate image through an image consultant and so now I embark on the journey of discovery.
I am extremely proud that during a year of huge uncertainty for the service and the staff I manage, we have continued to provide a high quality safe service throughout and have ensured that the service stays safe right up until the day of closure.
I know that this is an opportunity to develop new services and I especially gained ideas from my travels to New Zealand. The main focus moving forward will be the safe closure of the service, but the business plans are in development to redesign the service and improve the offer to women.
I see the end of the scholarship as the new beginning of my next leadership journey.