Nursing the Nation
Appreciation and Celebration
of the
Windrush and Commonwealth
Nurses and Midwives
Appreciation and Celebration of the Windrush and Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives
- Michelle Johnson MSc, RGN/RSCN, Queen’s Nurse, Chief Nurse and Director of Allied Health Professionals, Whittington Health NHS Trust
- Antonia Valentim – Managing a Covid 19 centre for Portuguese and Spanish migrants living in the UK, Managing Director at Africa And The Diaspora United.
- Dr Jak Beula – Founder and CEO of the Nubian Jak Community Trust
Antonia background and Boris Johnson
Celebration of the Windrush and Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives – Statue at Whittington Hospital
- The landing of Empire Windrush on British soil over 70 years ago
- The first ever global “Year of the nurse and midwife” (Designated by The World Health Organisation)
- Florence Nightingale’s bicentennial year
Collaboration between
- The Nubian Jak Community Trust,
- Whittington Hospital
- NHS
Proposed date – invitations
Previous project: The memorial to African and Caribbean Service Personnel. Her Majesty, The Queen, Prince Charles and The Mayor of London
The right moment to honour the nurses and midwifes – vocation and duty of Nurses and Midwifes
Endnote – Antonia – Jak
LATEST NEWS & MEDIA
I shared my home with Edward Colston for more than 20 years. Good riddance.
The toppling of the statue was a win for multiracial, radical Bristol – and the whole of the UK. Now it must face up to its shameful role in the slave trade.
From the 1960s onwards, a new genre of British history emerged: black history.
The history of the black presence in Britain had been erased from the “island story”. The long and complicated history of slavery was conveniently overshadowed by the more comforting tale of abolition.
The place of black people in the past had slipped on to history’s equivalent of the cutting-room floor.
It is strange to think today that the 492 people from the Caribbean who disembarked from the Empire Windrush in 1948 were, as far as we can know, unaware that the cities in which they went on to make their homes – London, Liverpool, Bristol – had been home to earlier generations of black Britons.
Had the books that we have now on black British history been available to them, how might the historical knowledge they contained fascinated, comforted, radicalised and energised them?
How, during the difficult years after 1948, when they were subjected to so much prejudice and endured so much disadvantage, might they have used such knowledge to rebuff those who questioned their right to be in Britain and regard themselves as British?
Source: The Guardian – Thu 11 Jun 2020
Around the world, countries are reckoning with the past and the historical figures chosen to represent it
But not all who are commemorated need to come down – these activists, academics and political leaders are welcome to stay
The nine-metre-high Nelson Mandela statue in Pretoria, South Africa
Source: Post Magazine – 26 June 2020
ARTICLES DISCUSSED
2020 is Florence Nightingale’s bicentennial year, designated by World Health Organisation as the first ever global Year of the Nurse and Midwife.
Nurses and midwives make up the largest numbers of the NHS workforce. They are highly skilled, multi-faceted professionals from a host of backgrounds that represent our diverse communities.
2020 is our time to reflect on these skills, the commitment and expert clinical care they bring, and the impact they make on the lives of so many.
This year is also an opportunity to say thank you to the professions; to showcase their diverse talents and expertise; and to promote nursing and midwifery as careers with a great deal to offer.
Source: NHS
Figures prompt renewed calls to ensure health and social workers have PPE needed.
The number of key workers and members of their families who are testing positive for Covid-19 has overtaken the number of sick people testing positive in hospitals.
A Royal College of Nursing (RCN): “The reality is that health and care workers are at increased risk from this virus simply by doing their job.
The Doctors’ Association UK: remain incredibly concerned that healthcare workers are at considerable risk, partly due to a lack of appropriate PPE (personal protective equipment)
Source: The Guardian
Evidence is emerging of how black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities are being disproportionately affected.
Despite making up only 14% of the population, one study has shown that we account for a third of critically ill coronavirus patients in our hospitals
Source: The Guardian
Tens of thousands of people across the UK have now died with coronavirus, including more than 100 NHS staff and other healthcare workers.
The BBC has been tracking their deaths during the pandemic.
Among them are a pregnant nurse who died before she could meet her daughter; a father-of-seven whose family say he was let down over a lack of personal protective equipment; and a grandmother who colleagues say was one the unsung heroes of the NHS.
Source: BBC
When he emerged from St. Thomas’ Hospital on Sunday, the first thing Prime Minister Boris Johnson did was thank the National Health Service for saving his life. He paid special tribute to his nurses, “Jenny from New Zealand” and “Luis from Portugal,” two of the thousands of immigrants who serve in the NHS.
2018 - The Windrush scandal
The Windrush scandal is a 2018 British political scandal concerning people who were wrongly detained, denied legal rights, threatened with deportation, and, in at least 83 cases wrongly deported from the UK by the Home Office.
Many of those affected had been born British subjects and had arrived in the UK before 1973, particularly from Caribbean countries as members of the “Windrush generation”.
As well as those who were deported, an unknown number were detained, lost their jobs or homes, or were denied benefits or medical care to which they were entitled.
A number of long-term UK residents were refused re-entry to the UK, and a larger number were threatened with immediate deportation by the Home Office.
Source: wikipedia – updated June 2020
It has been two years since the Windrush scandal broke.
It led to the government apologising for deportation threats made to the children of Commonwealth citizens. Despite living and working in the UK for decades, many were told they were there illegally because of a lack of official paperwork.
Since then, reports and compensation schemes have been launched, but some people are concerned that not enough has been done.
Prime minister at the time, Theresa May, apologised for their treatment. An inquiry was announced and a compensation scheme established.
Source: BBC – 24 June 2020
THE MEMORIAL
PREVIOUS PROJECT
Jak Beula, CEO of the Nubian Jak Trust said:
“More than 2 million African and Caribbean Military Servicemen and Servicewomen’s participated in WWI and WWII but have not been recognized for their contribution. The unveiling of this memorial is to correct this historical omission and to ensure young people of African and Caribbean descent are aware of the valuable input their forefathers had in the two world wars.”
Source: gov.uk
In a letter of support to the Nubian Jak Community Trust, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II said:
“It is now over 70 years since the end of that war, but it is just as important to remember the ultimate sacrifice made by those men and women who were prepared to lay down their live for our freedoms.“
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan spoke in his address of the
“courageous African and Caribbean men and women who fought with the British army during the First and Second World War”, noting: “As a society we must never forget the sacrifices they made. It’s vital that we pass this on to future generations, connecting children with their history.”
Source: wikipedia
UK: FIRST WAR MEMORIAL TO AFRO-CARIBBEAN SOLDIERS UNVEILED
Britain’s first Memorial to the African and Caribbean soldiers of the First and Second World Wars has been unveiled in London.
The installation is the vision of the Nubian Jak Community Trust, honouring the estimated two million Afro-Caribbean soldiers fought in both world wars.
Speaking:
- Dr Jak Beula
- The Right Honourable Sadiq Khan – Mayor of London – 01:34
- Sir Michael Fallon – British Secretary of State for Defence – 02:22
- Lord Herman Ouseley – Member of the House of Lords – 02:55
