Nurses, health care assistants, physiotherapists, administrative staff, management and supporters at Holy Cross Hospital celebrated a year of learning and development at the hospital’s annual prize giving and birthday on 26 September.
Training and development is central to the organisation’s commitment to attracting and keeping motivated and capable staff and as a hospital with highly dependent patients who have very complex medical needs, keeping staff up to date with the latest practices and knowledge is at its core.
In his welcome to the prize giving, the hospital’s chief executive, Dr Ross White reflected on the development of nursing from Florence Nightingale’s ambitions over 150 years ago and the 1919 Nurses Registration Act, to the highly skilled and regulated profession of 2019.
“We embrace the learning and development of our medical and non-medical staff because it greatly advances the level of care we can provide and improves the outcomes for our patients,” he says. “The range of services we can offer, the options for treatment and therapies only ever expand as a result of what we learn and through our professional development. Investing in our staff’s professional development is of the utmost importance at Holy Cross and we think that is worth celebrating together.”
The afternoon saw more than a dozen staff receive certificates and prizes for training as diverse as neuro-rehabilitation, an advanced respiration course, physiotherapy for the pelvic floor, management leadership, mediation, human resources qualifications and hydrotherapy.
Sister Mary Agnes, a former matron and member of the hospital’s management team was joined by senior staff nurse Helen Evans in sharing their experiences of nursing training in the 1950s and the 2000s. Their speeches showed that while the focus, techniques and curriculum has changed and the role of nurses has expanded – from providing care to nowadays, taking part in clinical decision making – the high standards and rigour has remained constant.
Information about career opportunities at Holy Cross Hospital can be found at www.holycross.org.uk.
Caption – A celebration of learning and development at Holy Cross Hospital’s birthday and annual prize giving.