Outgoing CNO urges nurses to ‘look after’ international staff
The outgoing chief nursing officer (CNO) for England has urged her successor to listen to staff and patients, and also called on NHS colleagues to “look after” international nurses going forwards.
Dame Ruth May, who is soon to step down from the CNO post, praised the contribution of international staff, as she reflected on highlights from the last five years of her career.
“My big piece of advice is listening – listening to patients, listening to families, listening to staff”
Ruth May
It came as part of a keynote session at the NHS Confederation Expo, being held in Manchester this week.
Dame Ruth, who has been in the national role since 2019, announced her retirement earlier this year.
She told the conference that the thing she had been most proud of during her time in post was just how many additional registered nurses there were now in England.
The government had pledged in its 2019 manifesto to expand the workforce by 50,000 registered nurses by March 2024, and met the target early in November 2023.
Dame Ruth told the conference that there were now an additional 62,000 registered nurses working in the NHS in England and that they “make a difference”.
She also noted that a significant number of these nurses had come from overseas.
“International nurses have been a very welcome addition [to the NHS],” she said.
“We were welcoming 6,000 internationally educated nurses every year, and now we’re welcoming just last year over 20,000.
“They’re great, my ask of you all is to look after them.”
Dame Ruth described how she had loved visiting NHS trusts across the country, to see what nurses are doing on the frontline.
She said: “I love doing visits, it’s visits that keeps my energy [and] keeps my mojo up.
“I have huge respect for people who tell it as it is when we go on a visit…because we want to hear what it’s really like, and I’m pleased that people do that.”
“On behalf of everybody, you have been an outstanding chief nurse”
Stephen Powis
Recently, Dame Ruth visited Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust, to see how staff there had been piloting Martha’s Rule.
The new rule is intended to make it easier for patients and families to get an urgent care review of their own or their family member’s case if concerns about a deteriorating condition are not being responded to.
NHS England announced last month that 143 hospitals in England are expected to roll out the initiative by March 2025.
Dame Ruth said nurses described the challenges they had faced in rolling out a pilot in Northampton, but also told her how it had “made a difference”.
“So even when there’s things that people are saying they’re really doing well, they tell us the truth: what’s working, what isn’t working and what we should do about it,” she added.
Separately, Dame Ruth noted that she had unveiled a brand new vision for nursing for the next three to five years, which will be delivered through seven Ps.
She highlighted that ‘prevention’ was one of the first Ps in the strategy due to its importance.
“Nurses and midwives and care workers have preventative conversations all of the time and [they] are really important,” she added.
On prevention, Dame Ruth noted the significance of the recent Tobacco and Vapes Bill, a piece of legislation that has been paused by the dissolution of parliament but aims to ban tobacco for the younger generations and ban disposable vapes altogether.
She said: “I can think of health visitors in particular, and school nurses, [who] have real, big, important roles to play in supporting people in our preventative agenda.
“So the multi-professional approach to this is vital, and let’s hope the smoking bill does go through.”
When asked what advice she would give to the incoming CNO, Dame Ruth said to “listen”.
Dame Ruth May received flowers and a standing ovation at the NHS Confederation Expo
“My big piece of advice is listening – listening to patients, listening to families, listening to staff,” she said.
“It’s a great privilege to do this job, [a] huge privilege.
“Have fun, look after yourself while you’re doing it and make a difference.”
Dame Ruth became tearful as she was met with a standing ovation and flowers as the conference closed.
Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director of NHS England, said you could “hear and see the warmth of feeling” nurses and their NHS colleagues had towards Dame Ruth.
Addressing her, Professor Powis said: “You should be incredibly proud of all the stuff you have done, some of that has been very visible.
“But I also see all the things that [the delegates] don’t see in the background, all the stuff that Ruth does for patients, for nurses, for all NHS staff in the background – how hard she fights.
“On behalf of everybody, you have been an outstanding chief nurse.
“We will miss you – you’re going to be a hard act to follow.”
