Welcome to the first blog of the Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions Policy Unit at the Department of Health. I’m going to tell you what we do and who we are.
The unit supports ministers and policy teams. Experts embedded in the civil service isn’t a new way of supporting ministers but this unit is a new approach to help oil the complex machinery of government and policy development. It reflects that we work in a system which has recently been redesigned and which needs close relationships with the arm's length bodies such as NHS England, Public Health England, Health Education England and NHS Improvement.
We follow the Civil Service Code and give advice with integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality – there is no room for professional territorialism or personal political bias. We get involved in a range of issues that straddle the Secretary of State’s priorities.
Who we are and what we do
Each of the professionals in the team is currently registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council or the Health and Care Professions Council as well as being civil servants.
Giving advice and influencing takes a number of forms. Informal conversations about policy directions and intentions are a common place to start, with written briefing being developed as a consequence followed by face to face formal conversations with ministers and policy teams to firm up the details and make decisions.
One of the most important features of our roles is to have an external facing leadership role as well as acting as an internal resource to policy teams. Because we are all well connected and networked across the health and care system we make sure that we have rounded intelligence about issues and are not just reliant on our own experiences and views. This balance is crucial as the world changes beyond our experience and we need to have clear, current knowledge of the reality of health and care.
We meet regularly with stakeholders and partners to understand and influence the national context. This includes the arm's length bodies, the unions and professional bodies, membership organisations, the regulators of the professions and - most importantly - providers of health and care. Meeting people who, as a daily responsibility, give care is a really significant feature of understanding both the challenges and opportunities in the current system.
I lead the professional team, and I am a general nurse and midwife. My key priorities cover a range of workforce issues including midwifery supervision, nursing in the care sector and nursing and midwifery regulation including revalidation. You can follow me on twitter @DavidFosterDH
Alison Raw is an occupational therapist who leads on our work for all the allied health professions (AHPs). Her work includes offering AHPs policy solutions to primary care, out of hospital care and on the integration of services. You can follow Alison on Twitter @Alisonraw
Jean Christensen is a general nurse and health visitor. She has a broad portfolio across nursing and the care sector and is focused on the recruitment and retention of registered nurses in the care sector, and quality and safety in adult social care nursing. You can follow Jean on Twitter @JChristensenDH
Ben Thomas is a general nurse and mental health nurse. He majors on mental health, learning disabilities and dementia. You can follow Ben on Twitter @BenT_DH
We will be posting blogs on a range of topics covering nursing, midwifery and the AHPs. If there is anything you’d particularly like to hear more about, do let us know.
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2 comments
Comment by Steven posted on
This looks a fantastic site and there's definitely a gap in the market in terms of hearing more about nurses midwives and AHPs and the link to policy development. I work in research at University College London for the NIHR CLAHRC North Thames and we run a Fellowship scheme for Nurses midwives and AHPS interested in research careers. I'd like to hear more about these groups and research.
Comment by helenthirkle posted on
Thanks Steven - we're going to do a research blog soon. Will be interested to hear your views on it when we do.