NCA celebrates its nurses on Nurses Day

The Northern Care Alliance NHS Group (NCA) shone a light on its nurses and all they have achieved during the pandemic for International Nurses Day.

During the pandemic nurses and care workers in all parts of the organisation have adapted to working in new ways at pace.

For example, many nurses were moved to different wards or locations to help support and care for patients suffering from COVID-19.

Since the pandemic began the NCA has treated and discharged over 4,867 COVID-19 patients to their usual place of residence.

Broken down, that number equates to 1,494 patients in Salford, 1,930 in Oldham, 1,248 in Bury, and 195 in Rochdale.

Libby McManus, Chief Nursing Officer at the NCA, which brings together the Salford Royal and Pennine Acute trusts, said: “Across the NCA, we are saying a massive ‘thank you’, not only to our nursing workforce, but to all those who have stepped up to help during the pandemic, been redeployed into other roles, or who have kept the wheels turning behind the scenes in roles such as estates, laundry and admin.

“We are rightly proud of each and every one of our NCA Family.

"Our nursing workforce is some of the best in the country and it’s not just us that think so – our patient feedback also shows us this is what our patients and service users believe too.”

Here is just one of the nurses that have a unique story to tell at the Care Organisations in Oldham:

Julie Flaherty MBE works in the children’s emergency department at The Royal Oldham Hospital.

She has 47 years’ nursing experience and has worked in humanitarian situations across the globe – all of which stood her in good stead when she was asked to help set up the NHS Nightingale Hospital North West within a fortnight.

Julie spent three weeks at the hospital site in the Manchester Central Convention Complex and advised on standard operating procedures (SOPs) for how the hospital should run. 

The hospital had 700 beds which are a step down from intensive care.

She said: “We had a very tight deadline with the whole place up and running from start to finish in two weeks.

"As well as the procurement, and planning, there was a whole mound of standard operating procedures (SOP) which had to be developed that would guide the smooth running of the hospital on a day to day basis.

“I stayed for the third week to help with the education, training and development of the clinical teams and was instrumental in the simulation sessions which were run on a daily basis as the staff became familiar with the new hospital and the processes of working in a very different environment and team."

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