Northampton nurse to visit Downing Street to meet Rishi Sunak as part of celebrations for 75 years of the NHS

A nurse from Northampton General Hospital (NGH) is meeting the Prime Minister as part of the national NHS 75 celebrations.

Deputy Lead Nurse for Palliative Care, Kerry Messam, has been invited to a Downing Street reception with Rishi Sunak taking place today (Wednesday July 5).

During the pandemic Kerry looked at one of the most sensitive areas of NHS care – end-of-life care – and delivered a project that helped to enhance the care for patients and those important to them whilst in hospital.

This included the development of special Swan Rooms, which aim to help make patients' stays in hospital more comfortable and less clinical and the same for their loved ones. Kerry also helped with additional resources dedicated to end-of-life care.

Kerry, who has been a clinical nurse specialist in palliative and end-of-life care at NGH for the last 16 years, said: “It is a real surprise and honour to have received an invitation to the NHS 75th Anniversary celebrations and I am very proud to represent Northampton General Hospital at them.

“The ‘Walking the walk’ project I led at NGH could not have happened without the initial national work of nurse Claire Henry MBE, nurse Marie Cooper and campaigner Roberta Lovick, who have inspired others to improve end of-life care by sharing their experiences.

“I am extremely grateful to Claire Mansfield, end-of-life lead nurse, and fellow palliative care team members, who have supported me in getting this far.

“This is a collective achievement and it has been a privilege to work collaboratively with so many colleagues across the Trust to deliver new initiatives and help support the needs of caregivers, families and friends visiting dying loved ones in hospital.

“We have received some really positive and heartfelt feedback from families and friends demonstrating that the little things really do make such a difference.“

Kerry’s work was supported by the Northamptonshire Health Charity and the hospital’s senior nursing and executive teams.

In August last year she won a Chief Nursing Officer for England Silver Award for her major contributions to patient care by delivering the Walking the Walk project at NGH.

As Kerry joins the national celebrations, NGH and Kettering General Hospital are looking back at the role the hospitals have played over the last 75 years.

Since 1948 the two hospitals have expanded from employing a few hundred staff to more than 10,000 in a variety of different disciplines.

Heidi Smoult, chief executive of Northampton General Hospital, said: “The NHS is something I am very proud to be part of and I am so very proud of our teams, who deliver such amazing care to our communities every day.

“Seeing how far the NHS has come over the last 75 years is incredible and the innovation our people show to progress healthcare for the benefit of our patients and communities even further is awe-inspiring.

“While we celebrate our 75th year as your National Health Service, I also want to add a huge thanks to both our communities who continue to support our teams and to each and every person working in NGH and the NHS,” Ms Smoult added.