Be bold and lead change

At our annual conference in 2023, Jamie Waterall, England's Deputy Chief Public Health Nurse urged school and public health nurses to be ‘bold and lead change’, he went on to say school and public health nurses are ‘perfectly positioned’ to shape, lead and deliver on policies to improve the nation's health (SAPHNA, 2023). The Change NHS consultation to ‘help build a health service fit for the future’ is an opportunity for school and public health nurses to speak up, share their expertise, give their views and help policy makers shift health care from hospital to the community, from sickness to prevention and to improve the use of technology.

On December 24, Jamie opened our webinar, attended by school nurses and public health nurses and their teams. His message was clear, public health nurses need to have their say and respond on a professional level to the Change NHS consultation. Jamie and Lynn Reed, deputy director 0–19 Clinical Programmes Unit, joined the breakout room discussions where attendees explored and debated each ‘shift’ area, thinking about how outcomes for school-aged children and young people might be improved, and how school nursing might contribute to these changes and help build a health service fit for the future. The event closed with an address from Duncan Burton, Chief Nursing Officer for England.