Julie Haigh, Digital Midwife in north Cumbria has become the first midwife to become a Fellow of the Faculty of Clinical Informatics.
This news falls on International Day of the Midwife which the Trust is celebrating widely today. Lots of stories about the Trust’s midwives, teams and the women and babies they’ve supported is being shared on the Trust website and across social media channels to celebrate the day.
Julie Haigh, Digital Midwife at North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust said: “I was advised by a nursing colleague to apply for membership with the Faculty of Clinical Informatics which I did. After submitting my application I was thrilled to receive an invitation to become a Fellow of the body.
“Within my application I included information about the great work we’re doing at the Trust and within the maternity service to deliver on national and local strategies set out in the Governments Long term plan. We have been one of the first Trusts in the country to achieve this goal set out by the Government almost 5 years ahead of plan, which is fantastic! Being a part of the body now opens the doors to so much more information, innovation and support which can be used to inform the drive to have digital led clinical staff so we can continually improve our patient experience.
“It is a thrill and an honour to be offered a Fellowship and I hope to use this opportunity to not only increase my knowledge but to share the great work being undertaken here in north Cumbria.”
The Faculty of Clinical Informatics is the multi-disciplinary professional body for all health and social care qualified individuals working as informaticians across the UK. Anyone who wants to join has to be a qualified health and care professional who positively transforms person-centred care through using their specialist clinical knowledge in combination with expertise in information technology, along with best use of data, knowledge and information.
Julie has many years’ experience working as a midwife and last year she was involved in leading a piece of work to introduce digital maternity notes into the Trust. The purpose of this was to enable pregnant women to have their care record in the palm of their hand. Via the maternity app they can track their journey, and easily access information about their pregnancy and baby’s development. A year on the digital notes are proving a success.
Anna Stabler, Interim Chief Nurse at North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust said: “This is a brilliant achievement and one that Julie thoroughly deserves. She has put so much time into developing our maternity services to make them more advanced and better for mums in north Cumbria. I am sure she will use her fellowship to the fullest to learn more and bring back new ideas and developments that we can use.”
