Appointment of twenty newly qualified midwives to join the Maternity Teams at Altnagelvin Hospital and South West Acute Hospital

25/10/2023

Welcoming newly qualified midwives to the Maternity Team at the South West Acute Hospital, Enniskillen from left to right are: Maternity Manager Sister Mairead McKenna; newly qualified midwife Hannah Miller; Interim Head of Midwifery and Gynaecology Brenda McCabe; newly qualified midwife Katie Dean and Delivery Suite coordinating Sister Tracey McAlynn.

Our Maternity Services is delighted to celebrate the appointment of 20 newly qualified midwives in total who had been offered and accepted posts within the Western Trust.

These midwives have trained in either the BSc Undergraduate Midwifery or Postgraduate Masters Midwifery programmes. Students who have completed their training in QUB or from universities in the mainland UK.

Dr Tom Frawley, Western Trust Chair along with Assistant Director Mary McKenna made a visit to the maternity department at Altnagelvin Hospital to personally welcome the newly appointed staff to their posts.

Interim Head of Midwifery, and Gynaecology and the New Born Hearing Screener Brenda McCabe welcomed the newly appointed midwives Hannah Miller and Katie Dean to the maternity team at the South West Acute Hospital along with maternity manager Sr Mairead McKenna and Delivery Suite Co-ordinator Sr Tracey McAlynn.

Brenda McCabe said:

“We are delighted to have such a great response of applications from these newly qualified midwives and provide them with posts within the Western Trust. Hanna Doherty from Derry/Londonderry, carried out her midwifery training at QUB and expressed that she was pleased to have secured a post at Altnagelvin Hospital following successful completion of her training. Hanna said she felt that she was nurtured and supported throughout her student journey by the midwifery and medical staff and this motivated her to join the team on completion of her course.”

Newly qualified midwives Anna and Hannah Altnagelvin Hospital

Anna Hughes also from Derry/Londonderry trained within the mainland UK, however, her intention was always to return to her home town following her training. Now that she has commenced her post she feels that ongoing support from her new colleagues has helped her settle into her new role.

In the South west Acute Hospital, Enniskillen Hannah Garrity and Katie Deane also commenced their midwifery posts following successful completion of their midwifery Degree at QUB. Both of their student placements were undertaken in South West Acute Hospital and it was during this time that they decided to remain in the hospital to begin the first part of their journey as newly qualified midwifes.

Brenda also took the opportunity to promote midwifery as a potential career and through the senior leadership in the Western Trust’s maternity services has been promoting their profession to schools, colleges and other professionals within the Trust. This has led to an increase in the uptake in Midwifery applications from the Western Trust and one which is very much encouraged to develop midwifery workforce planning in the Trust.

Brenda concluded:

“QUB Belfast have now advertised for direct entry for post graduates to apply for the Masters in Midwifery. To access this application click on link Login – Applications Portal (qub.ac.uk) or go to QUB online portal. The course commences in February 2024. Last year the Western Trust secured 11 applications to this course. Applications will be available from the 11th October 2023 and the closing date is 8th November 2023 @ 12 noon.”