| The policy for the establishment of Nurse, Midwife and Health Visitor Consultants was first introduced in Northern Ireland in 2000. The posts were created to help provide better outcomes for patients/clients, strengthening clinical leadership and providing new career opportunities with the hope of retaining expert practitioners in clinical practice. |
The Project Steering Group was set up to develop professional guidance to support Consultant Nurse and Midwife Roles across Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland. The Steering Group, chaired by Brenda Creaney, Executive Director of Nursing, Belfast HSC Trust, comprised Senior Nurses and Midwives and where available Consultant Nurses/Midwives from the following organisations: HSC Trusts, Public Health Agency, Clinical Education Centre, DHSSPS, Royal College of Nursing, Royal College of Midwifery, Trade Unions, Queen’s University Belfast, Ulster University and NIPEC Council.
The Professional Guidance is designed to help reinvigorate this vital clinical, expert leadership role to drive the transformational changes required to deliver the world class service described in Delivering Together (DoH 2016). Consultant Nurses and Midwives also work within their multidisciplinary teams to ensure that services meet the needs of their populations through effective co-production with service users, collaborative engagement and impact measurement of outcomes.
View the Professional Guidance here which will support:
- practitioners in the Consultant role and those aspiring to the role;
- the introduction of new Consultant roles to facilitate service developments;
- education providers to enhance the professional development of these practitioners.
View the Agendas and Action Notes here
View the Project Plan here
View the Project Report here