Over the last 70 years there has been significant developments in the nursing care of patients with stroke, cardiac conditions and other long term diseases.
In 1948 a district nurse said: “As there is such a scarcity of hospital beds, the work of the district nurse is assuming more importance and a greater demand is made upon her services.”.
Whilst much has changed since 1948, there is little argument that this is still the case. Our transformation plan: “Health and Wellbeing 2026: Delivering Together”, sets out a clear roadmap, which is an ambitious plan based on more intervention in primary care. Nursing has a key role to play in making this happen.
It is generally accepted that midwifery is the oldest female occupation and indeed this too has advanced significantly over the last 70 years. We had the first freestanding midwifery led unit open in Northern Ireland in 2010, providing even more choice for women and their families.
Although the NHS has demonstrated significant change, satisfaction with nursing and midwifery remains very positive; 90% of people indicated this in a recent survey by Public Health Agency. These stories clearly demonstrated a high level of respect, appreciation and public confidence in our nurses and midwives. We know nurses and midwives are the most trusted profession and provide the most care time.
Our focus on the future is to ensure that we will have a much healthier population, where nurses and midwives enable and support the population to look after their own health. This is a challenge for all of us, but I know nursing is up to meeting this challenge. I want to thank every single member of staff, who works in health and social care, for the tremendous contribution they make to people who use our services.