We’re delighted to welcome back an old friend who takes up the role of Deputy Director of Nursing and Quality at DHU Healthcare.
Rhonda Pickering moved to the UK from Trinidad and Tobago to start her nurse training before embarking on her impressive career at Leicester in 1999. This appointment marks her third period at DHU Healthcare and we caught up with her to find out more about her distinguished career and what it feels like to be back.
Rhonda said: “Somebody asked me earlier if it feels like I’ve come home and, at the risk of it sounding like a cliché, it really does. When I came for my interview and walked through the doors I felt goosebumps and it really does feel great to be back here.
“I’ve always had ambitions to follow a path to a role like this one but I knew it was always going to be difficult if I didn’t have more experience of management in an acute setting. That was one of the main reasons for leaving DHU in 2019, to take on the role of Associate Nursing at University Hospital of Coventry and Warwick where I spent a fantastic two years. So when I saw this opening at DHU I jumped at the opportunity and am now looking forward to the challenge ahead.”
The Road back to DHU…
After qualifying as an adult nurse, Rhonda spent four years at Glenfield Hospital where she became Senior Staff Nurse in Cardiology. She then moved into the community, joining the GP Out of Hours Service, doing telephone triage as a Nurse Adviser where she was able to harness her passion for education and training.
“I became a Training Manager from 2008-2014, whilst I completed my Advanced Clinical Practice degree,” Rhonda added. “I actively championed for triage nurses to be offered portfolio careers in GP practices, urgent treatment and walk in centres, as well as home visiting services across Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland (LLR).
“There was a lot of partnership working with education and commissioning colleagues and it was at this time that I became Head of Quality at the CCG, leading on all the commissioned urgent care contracts. It was a busy time, looking at how we could measure success and maintain the quality of service for our patients against a number of targets and assessments, to offer a more seamless, joined up provision of care across the LLR region.
“But I was missing that face to face contact with patients so came back to DHU as Head of Clinical Service in 2017, before moving to University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire two years later. It was almost like revisiting the start of my career; part of my role was to lead on recruitment and retention in nursing, including overseas nurse recruitment which was important to me due to my Caribbean origins. We recruited more than 200 nurses in the height of a pandemic and their impact in keeping services running for patients and supporting colleagues during a time of crisis can’t be overestimated.
“The patient comes first”
“And now here I am, back at DHU where I’ll be supporting the nursing and quality team. It’s a period of change as, alongside our health and NHS partners, we look to make that transition from how we worked in the pandemic to resuming a more, what you might call ‘normal’ service for all of our patients.
“For me it’s about making sure all people are supported and to try and move back to making face to face appointments part of normal care delivery whilst not losing our digital options. The patient comes first but we need to provide support and reassurance to our own people and empower them to provide the best possible compassionate and professional care for our patients as an integral part of the wider health system.”
Rhonda took up her new post in March 2022 and will be based in Derby.
Thank you and welcome back Rhonda. Keep your eyes peeled for DHU’s next #WhatDoYouDo.
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