Having recently marked NHS Overseas Workers Day, we have another story to share with you!
Ros Harvey is DHU’s Corporate Head of Clinical Governance but started her career as a nurse and midwife in her native South Africa, a career that began in January 1988 and led to her arriving to work at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.
Ros told us: “I was at Grey’s Hospital in Pietermaritzburg and the nature of the training in South Africa covered almost everything, including paediatrics, psychiatric, community nursing and midwifery. I suppose that’s one of the reasons nurses from the area were sought after.
“I was fortunate to meet some incredible mentors, including one who was an advanced midwife and carried out some of the tasks you would normally expect of a doctor, including complex births and caesareans. It taught me so much by doing the job and being involved. The surroundings were very unassuming and there was so much mutual respect between the patients and us.
“My first placement was in Vryheid in Northern Kwa Zulu Natal, not far from the infamous Isandlawana battleground. I remember the mornings started with song, the staff and patients grouping together a circle to break into natural harmony. The sound of their voices was incredible and melodic, but it was a contrast to the lack of resources and specialised equipment that we are able to rely on in the UK.
“They were recruiting at pace from overseas when I moved over here in 1997 and my first impression was the slower pace. Again, I worked in different fields, including gastro-intestinal and breast care, such was my varied experience. It could have been the size of the hospital or the city setting but when I moved to Burton-on-Trent to accept a job as a staff nurse in theatre, it had a much more family feel, more about the team and we had a real bond. I still meet up with some of my colleagues from my time there.
“I moved into Clinical Governance and here to DHU which has been a great move for me and given me a different outlet for my skills. I do miss that patient contact, but I have some brilliant memories and such a varied career that I look back on with pride.
“I think overseas nurses and, to draw on my own perspective, those from South Africa bring a lot to our NHS. Our training was so varied and without the same level of resources, we used our initiative and training in a way that relied on our knowledge and nursing instincts. We saw different illnesses, perhaps more severe and progressed than you see here and we had to deal with it.
“I have such good friends and family here, but I always think of South Africa as my home, the place that made me the person that I am today.”