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Nurses among thousands of NHS staff making a pledge for Change Day

The national day of action for the NHS in England sees healthcare professionals come up with ideas to improve their practice.
Change Day

Nurses are today among thousands of NHS staff across the UK making pledges to transform care on Change Day. 

The annual event, which started in 2013, encourages healthcare professionals to think about what they can do differently in their practice on an ongoing basis, whether it be a small or big change. 

Making the pledge

At Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust, junior uro-oncology nurse Shievon Smith has pledged to promote the role of clinical nurse specialists, including through social media.  

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust deputy sister Tracy Pemberton has committed to ensure patients with Parkinson’s receive their medication ‘at the right time, every time’. 

The day inspired Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust professional lead for school nursing Sallyann Sutton to make a pledge for the first time. 

Sallyann Sutton
Sallyann Sutton: pledging for the first time

She will listen to children and young people so their voice is central to the development and delivery of services and she will also promote the role of the school nurse.

Ms Sutton said British Youth Council (BYC) research has shown that young people do not see enough of school nurses.

She added: ‘Colleagues from education and other healthcare colleagues, such as nurses in hospital services and community services, don’t really understand what school nurses do. 

‘We have got a lot of work to do in articulating the role and why it is important.’ 

Local champions

The BYC developed a programme called school nurse champions which sees young people give advice on how to improve school nursing services.

The Walsall school nursing service has already made changes based on feedback from local champions.

These include distributing a card which includes contact details for school nurses and planning a school nurse drop-in service to improve accessibility for young people. 

Ms Sutton said the service will continue to train more local champions to allow for more feedback and she will revisit her pledges throughout the year.

Regarding Change Day, she added: ‘It is realising that small changes add up. 

‘NHS staff know what needs to be done to change the NHS and they don’t need to wait for permission from the top.’ 

How to pledge

This year, healthcare staff can record their pledge via an app and share their ideas.

Change Day is being coordinated by The Academy of Fabulous NHS Stuff, the community organisation which promotes best practice in the health service. 

The academy’s founder and health blogger Roy Lilley said: ‘The best ideas come from the people actually doing the job.’

Change Day is being launched at the National Association of Primary Care’s best practice conference in Birmingham today.


Further information

To pledge on the Change Day website click here and follow @FabChangeDay for updates

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