Highlights: Six Inspiring Women in the NHS
Asma Nafees, Lisa Emery, Clare Hutton, Ayesha Rahim, Lara Roskelly and Salma Yasmeen - six inspiring women in the NHS
Many would agree that this year has been somewhat better than the last. And that’s largely due to the super-human efforts of everyone working in the NHS. Throughout the pandemic we’ve celebrated NHS workers. Now it’s time to find out who they really are, and especially the women who make up over 75% of the NHS workforce - the unsung heroes. To give these women a voice we’ve launched ‘Women in the NHS,’ a digital publication featuring written interviews with inspiring women working in healthcare in the UK. Here are some of this year's higlights - six inspiring women in the NHS.
Asma Nafees, the Chief Analytics Officer at NHS Arden & GEM Commissioning Support Unit, speaks out about wearing a hijab (headscarf) and changing people’s perceptions on working mums and Muslim women in the workplace. “Every conversation you have has that ripple effect of change.”
We get an an insight into implementing digital strategy and promoting diversity in senior roles from Lisa Emery, the Chief Information Officer at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. “If you haven’t got diversity in the team you’re delivering with, then you’re not representing the service you’re delivering to.”
Previously the Deputy Matron at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and now the Theatre & Pre-Assessment Matron at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, Clare Hutton talks about managing 300 staff across 22 operating theatres and prioritising staff well-being. “We try to make sure our staff feel heard. To be heard is very powerful for staff’s well-being and mental health.”
Ayesha Rahim, the Chief Clinical Information Officer at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, is certain that the pandemic has turbo-charged the use of digital technology in the NHS and acknowledges the difficulties faced by women from ethnic minorities. “I’m very much a believer of ‘lift as you climb’. I want to try and redress some of the imbalances that we still face on a daily basis.”
Throwing the spotlight on leading change and improvement in the NHS is Salma Yasmeen, the Executive Director of Strategy and Change at South West Yorkshire NHS Foundation Trust and one of twenty top-performing BAME leaders in UK public service. “We wanted a culture where front-line staff can make change happen, because real change has to begin with them.”
Lara Roskelly, the Acute Oncology Service Lead Nurse at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, discusses simulation training and how Covid has transformed local training courses into digital webinars with nationwide reach. “Word of mouth got out and we had GP practices from all over the country attend.”
Genevieve Shaw, editor
g.shaw@womeninthenhs.co.uk
