Page 44 - QARANC Vol 14 No 12 2016

42 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Millbank Branch
Chairman Lt Col (Retd) Linda Kibbey Secretary Maj (Retd) Allison Johnson
Firstly I apologise for wrongly spelling Gwin Foley’s name on my last report.
Many of you are aware of what we have been doing over these past 6 months but just a reminder to those members who have been unable to join us and I hope that you enjoy reading about our exploits and if possible we will see or hear from you this coming year.
August – Once again members attended the Step Short Parade and saw our members Stepping short again with Jane Carey Harris, Liz Gregory Standard bearer accompanied by Brigid Kelly, Linda Kibbey and Di Robertson Bell in Folkestone. Photos posted on the face book site of the Association. It was a memorable day, one that we all felt proud and honoured to have been participants.
In addition to the above commemoration Millbank members Lindi Kibbey, Gwin Foley & Jenny East were very honoured to have represented the association at the centenary commemoration service of Edith Cavell’s death. Col David Bates DANS and Maj JP Nolan RCN representative were also in attendance and both laid wreaths. Gwen Foley paraded our standard and was positioned on right side of the statue - a most prominent position. The service was led by the vicar of St Martin’s in the Field, Rev Sam Wells.
There was a choral group and a primary school choir in attendance. A tribute was read out by a member of The Edith Cavell Trust. It was a moving occasion to a remarkable woman.
November – Members of the Millbank and Welsh branches attended the Glover Lecture and Dinner. As always we had a very good speaker Lord Willis of Knaresborough who is currently acting as a consultant to (HEE) Health Education England.
He began by talking about the regulations at the Nurses & Midwives Council and said that Chief Executive and Registrar, Jackie Smith was brought in to look at standards and start again. He said that Nurses need to be the leaders in patient safety and that was the publics expectation. He spoke about developing people for health and health care and a nursing workforce fit for the future.
He spoke about clever nurses the graduate nurse at the end of their training still needing to be told what to do? A report by Camilla Cavendish “An Independent Review into Healthcare Assistants and Support Workers in the NHS and
social care settings. The Cavendish Review was published in July 2013. Among the recommendations were “Common training standards across health and social care”, and a new ‘Certificate of Fundamental Care’, written in language that is meaningful to patients and the public. For the first time, this would link healthcare assistant training to nurse training.
In her report she does point out that the Army treats its 200 HCAs as integral to the team, and sets high standards for them.
Lord Willis spoke about the recommendations of the above report specific to the HCA’s referring to transportable skills within 5 years. Care Certificates as a basis with a portfolio record. He spoke about the role of the senior care assistants and bridging the gap that exists between them and the Graduate nurse. He spoke about treating the whole person in both mental and physical care with more hands on experience. All in all a very good evening.
Members of the Branch attended the Westminster Garden of Remembrance and paraded the Standard at the RCN that evening. Sunday we paraded at Cenotaph and at St Paul’s Cathedral attended a service of Remembrance to the Commemoration of the Fallen with our Branch Standard being paraded and lunch at the Mansion House.
It is with sadness that I report Mary Kelly at the age of 97 one of longest and most loyal members of the Branch died in October 2015. It is with even more regret that as one of only 2 members in our Branch who served with the QA’s as a Nursing Sister in Normandy in the days after D-Day and was nominated for the Légion d’Honneur will now miss out on this very prestigious award. Shame on those responsible for the way they have gone about recognising those brave people with limited years. The nominations were sent in around July 2014 and 18months on and still no acknowledgement to either member. My thanks to Barbara Johnson for representing the Branch and Association at her funeral in Bristol.
As Always my best wishes to one and all.
Allison, Millbank Branch Secretary
2016 Events for you Diaries
The association Reunion Lunch will be on the 7th May it will be good to catch up with our members and those of the other Branches.