A snapshot of progress from the new RCN Public Health Nurse Adviser

Published: 18 September 2009

JAN MAW took up the new post of RCN Public Health Adviser in January 2009, with the primary purpose of leading public health work through a busy and sometimes provocative period at the RCN. How is she doing?
A snapshot of progress from the RCN Public Health Nurse Adviser

In 2008, RCN Council voted to change the number of RCN forums, refocusing them into 41 new forums with a revised governance structure and a series of new systems brought online to support the development of nursing practice and policy.

During this period it was agreed by Council that these five forums would merge to form a new Public Health Nursing Forum:

• RCN OHN Forum
• PH/HV Forum
• Sexual Health Forum
• TB Nursing
• Travel Health Forum.

Since taking up my post in January,. I have been given an extremely broad remit to lead the public health work for the RCN, which covers the PH areas of health protection, health promotion and PH service development.

One of my key roles has been to work closely with the five chairs of the merging forums, along with the RCN Forum Transformation lead Tim Curry and the RCN Forum Co-ordinator Sandra Hall. We are helping the chairs navigate their way through the new governance processes so that everyone understands and gets the very best out of the new systems.

From transition to reality

As you will see from Cynthia's article, despite the challenges great progress has already been made. This has been achieved through hard work, collaboration, respect and supporting each other through the difficult process of change.

The new PH Forum will be fully operational by October, and over the autumn and winter, we will be working hard on the development of the new PH website and PH e-newsletter. We aim to ensure that members will have a stronger voice through networks and communities which will enable them to influence and engage with the work of the PH Forum.

The purpose of forums

• Provide networking opportunities
• Help members enhance their practice knowledge and skills
• Provide an expert resource
• Support RCN Council
• Shape, drive and develop nursing practice
• Generate nurse leaders in their field
• Influence current and future health and social policy in the UK and beyond

For more information about forum activity, visit www.rcn.org.uk/forums

RCN involvement

Alongside the work with the forums, a lot of other activities have taken place this year. Here is a snapshot of some of the work that RCN staff have been engaging in as regards the occupational health agenda.

• Kim Sunley (RCN Staff Side) has been particularly active and staff side trade unions, including the RCN, were involved in shaping the proposals for the review of the Health and Well-being of the NHS workforce (the Boorman Review at www.nhshealthandwellbeing.org). The RCN called for a meeting with the lead reviewer to ensure that the views of our members working in the NHS and those of our safety reps were heard. Kim and I were both members of the stakeholder group and RCN provided a comprehensive response to the draft report. The final report is due out in the near future.
• UK Safety Representatives Committee is interested to see how they can support the agenda to further protect the health and safety of our members working in health care and to look at opportunities to work more closely with NHS (and independent sector) occupational health services. The committee contributed to the RCN's response to the Dame Carol Black Review.
• Nicola Lee, Adviser to the Work Injured Nurses Group (WING), has worked on rehabilitation and sickness absence in relation to our members.
• Maura Buchanan (RCN President) and I have met with Dame Carol to appraise her of the work underway at the RCN. Since then Dame Carol has met with Peter Carter and Cynthia Atwell.
• RCN is represented at the Health and Well-being at Work (HWW) Stakeholder Council through Maura Buchanan who is supported by Sharon Horan. Further discussions are underway to look at how the RCN can support the proposed Champion role of the various workstreams.
• The RCN Web Team is re-examining the Learning Zone resource for HWW, and revamping and re-launching it this later in the year.
• We have been engaging with our colleagues in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. I have had meetings with Theresa Fyffe, RCN Scotland and OHN in Scotland, to discuss how we can bring OH nursing in Scotland actively into the UK PH Forum. I will speak at the RCN Wales OHN Conference in September and the SOHN Conference in November, and I have been in discussion with colleagues in Northern Ireland to form closer working links there.

I hope this gives you a flavour of some of the key milestones achieved over the last six months. It has been a very busy and challenging time for everyone, but looking back over the year so far, the results make the efforts well worth it.

And finally, a personal thank-you to Bashyr Aziz

Bashyr has been a loyal and hard working member of RCN OHN Forum for a number of years, spearheading the move to the electronic newsletter e-SOHN and working tirelessly to encourage members to contribute.

Bashyr has decided to stand down as Editor after this final edition of e-SOHN and we will be hard pressed to find a replacement with the same enthusiasm and energy for the new PH e-newsletter. I know you will join me in thanking Bashyr for his contribution to OH nursing.