AYR NATIVE FIONA IS NURSING’S GUIDING LIGHT
The Post have been revealing the many faces of our healthcare heroes fighting coronavirus on the frontline – and our campaign to thank them has been flying.
We’ve been asking you to show our heroes some love by helping us create a living map of gratitude around Ayrshire – and 2,607 families have already shown their support.
This week the Health Secretary and MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Jeane Freeman, has thown her weight behind our campaign.
Ms Freeman said: “Every member of NHS staff across Scotland, from the cleaner to the nurse or doctor, deserves our immense gratitude and support for all they do to care for us, and that is even more the case as they work so hard to help us face this unprecedented health emergency.
“I applaud the Ayrshire Post for launching these awards, which I know will be warmly welcomed and I encourage all your readers to take part.
“As Cabinet Secretary for Health, it is my great privilege to see every day the quite astonishing work which our NHS staff do – from saving lives to helping lives, looking after us from cradle to grave.
“And they do this not just with immense dedication, selflessness and hard work, they do it with the most incredible modesty and without seeking recognition – which is all the more reason for all of us as patients to salute and acknowledge what they do.
“In times of emergency like this, Scotland’s NHS – free as ever at the point of delivery in accordance with its timeless founding principles – is a beacon of hope and a daily reminder of just how much we should all cherish our brilliant, world- leading NHS staff.”
This week four more healthcare heroes tell us a bit about their role on the frontline
“My name is Melissa Berretti. I’m 26 and I work in paediatrics in University Hospital Crosshouse. I work between the emergency department, the assessment unit and the inpatient ward.
“We are all trying to adapt to the changes in the hospital just now, which is difficult in a district general with only limited paediatric beds.
“But I think we are all doing a fantastic job given these extreme circumstances.
“Each and every one of us is travelling to work every day not knowing what the day will bring and I have never been more proud of myself and my colleagues.
“Children don’t fully understand what is happening in the world and coming to hospital is normally a scary situation.
“So it’s our job as paediatric nurses and professionals to make this experience as positive as it can be.
“It is vitally important that the public abide by the rules in order for us all to get back to normality.
“We all need to stay at home unless absolutely necessary. I know it’s difficult with the nice weather. Everybody wants to enjoy the ‘ taps aff’ weather.
The highest ranking nurse in Scotland lives in Ayr, we can reveal.
Fiona McQueen, 58, is Chief Nursing Officer and the figurehead for more than 44,000 nurses and midwives.
Professor McQueen is one of the key figures behind Scotland’s response to coronavirus. And the £ 93,000- a- year CNO role effectively makes the holder a Director of the Scottish Government.
She is a member of the Scottish Anti- Microbial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection Group, so has a clear understanding on what is needed to try and keep hospitals safe from the bug. Professor McQueen is actually quitting her job in the summer after five years at the top. And in a recent interview she revealed: “Being a nurse anywhere in the country is an amazing, deep, deep privilege, whatever level of practice you’re working at.”
She is an honorary professor at the University of West of Scotland and has chaired the Scottish Executive Nurse Directors group.
Professor McQueen became acting CNO in 2014, before being officially
“I normally work as a member of the promoting attendance team for NHS Ayrshire & Arran. This involves supporting staff who are unwell or have underlying health conditions to be able to attend work.
“The team work closely with both managers and staff to identify any adjustments or support required in the workplace.
“We have established an emergency staff hub to provide a central point of contact and reporting process for all NHS Ayrshire & Arran’s staff.
“Any member of staff who has concerns regarding either their own or a family member’s health are able to contact the staff hub to report an absence; seek advice and guidance; discuss testing; or simply be reassured about the support available for them at this time.
“All staff are advised about self- isolation and household isolation should they be experiencing symptoms or a household member is experiencing symptoms.
“It is absolutely crucial at this time that all our staff are leading by example and following the advice and guidance about staying at home. They should not hesitate to contact the staff hub at any time.” appointed four months later. She had been Executive Nurse Director for NHS Ayrshire and Arran for 15 years prior to that.
Once in the top job she felt increasingly ill at ease with her morbid obesity. Within a year she had shed seven stone, a shining example to her nurses.
It was 38 years ago that she entered the profession. Her CNO role is responsible at national level for all matters that relate to the professional leadership of nurses and midwives across Scotland.
In an interview with the professional mag Nursing Times – just before the first Covid- 19 case hit Scotland – Professor McQueen said she was leaving for “personal reasons” including family health issues.
Seven years ago while the CNO at NHS Ayrshire, she was cleared of wrongdoing by a health watchdog.
The NMC ( Nursing and Midwifery Council) was asked to investigate Ayrshire and Arran’s nursing chief, Fiona McQueen, following the scandal over withheld critical incident reports.
More than 50 files, supposed to be vital learning tools from serious adverse events, failed to reach members of staff.
Scotland’s Information Commissioner labelled the case, which uncovered a “catalogue of failings,” among the worst he had ever seen.
And a probe by Healthcare Improvement Scotland ( HIS) pointed to a lack of accountability.
But despite that damning criticism, an NMC panel ruled Professor McQueen had “no case to answer”.
She is due to step down at the end of June and believes the CNO job is cyclical.
“I think it needs to be refreshed,” she said, and believes her legacy would be a “strong, flourishing profession”.