Hilary appointed nursing and midwifery director

WEEKS after the opening of a maternity ward at Newham General Hospital the borough now has a new Head of Nursing and Midwifery.

Hilary Shanahan, 51, has been appointed by Newham University Hospital NHS Trust asthe service’s director, hot on the heels of the opening of the first phase of the �17.5million Maternity and Newborn Unit.

She was previously Director of Nursing at Greenwich Primary Care Trust.

She is responsible for leading the Newham Trust’s 898 nurses and midwives and ensuring that quality of care and patients’ good experience is high.

“We’re proud of our diverse community and we embrace the healthcare challenges that can sometimes present themselves in a diverse population,’’ said Hilary.

“We have the skill, talent and expertise within our workforce to continue to tailor and develop our services to meet that diversity of need, and in a way which continues to be the envy of many NHS Trusts around the country.

“Our chaplaincy and multi-faith team are just one example of this innovation working in practice for the people of Newham”.

She paid tribute to her predecessors and said they had set up the quality of care and patient experience agenda.

And she is confident the Trust will accommodate Newham’s traditional high birth rate – thanks to the new maternity unit and the full complement of midwives.

Hilary is excited about the new maternity and newborn unit and wants people to see for themselves how fantastic it is.

She told the Recorder: “Having seen the many excellent members of staff we have working here and from speaking with my clinical colleagues, I am very confident that the Trust are taking proactive steps to continue to serve the women of Newham with high quality maternity services.

“We know that we have a young population and we know, too, that we have a high birth rate. But our Trust are forward-thinking and planning ahead in terms of our maternity and newborn redevelopment.

“This is critical to being able to continue to meet the maternity service needs for the women of Newham.”