Royal seal of approval for South Yorkshire midwife

A dedicated union steward is one of only four people nationally to be nominated for a top award by the Royal College of Midwives.

Jayne Manderson, an experienced midwife at The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust (TRFT) and a Royal College of Midwives (RCM) steward since 2005, has been nominated for the Royal College of Midwives Thompsons Members’ Champion Award.

Since 2004, the RCM Annual Midwives Awards have celebrated outstanding achievement in Midwives across the UK and will take place on 7 March 2017 in London. The Members’ Champion award recognises Royal College of Midwives representatives who have made a difference to the lives of members in the workplace through training, engagement and union representation.

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Jayne started her career at TRFT as a cadet nurse in 1977 and had been a midwife since 1984. She has been a RCM steward for 15 years. She said: “I’m really proud to have been nominated for the RCM award and the fact I’m just one of four people nationally makes it really special.

“I wanted to become a steward 15 years ago because I hate inequality but like to help people. I like to fight for what’s right. I enjoy supporting people at a time when they need it most and people are grateful. My family have always supported me doing this role and I’ve worked with two Heads of Midwifery who have also been supportive and respectful of the unions.

“It’s rewarding to have my hard work recognised with the award nomination but my main reward is that I really enjoy doing it and I won’t give up until I retire.”

During 2016, Jayne was instrumental in actively seeking out new and enthusiastic members to join the Royal College of Midwives, including a new steward, health and safety and learning representatives. After advising and encouraging all interested parties, she arranged for nominations to be submitted and an election. The new branch officers are now in post.

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Jayne also helped launch the Royal College of Midwives’ Caring For You Charter throughout TRFT in August. The Caring For You campaign aims to improve the health, safety and wellbeing of midwives so they are able to continue providing the highest level of maternity care for women and their families.

Jayne was nominated for the award by Lynne Galvin, Regional Officer for the Royal College of Midwives, who said: “Jayne is well known and respected in this role and such a pleasure to work with. Her lengthy experience means she is confident and able to have professional discussions with those in senior management and HR. She has a gentle but firm approach in negotiations and is well versed with both local and national policies and processes.

“She makes such a valuable contribution at every Regional Workplace Rep Training Day, allowing those less experienced to learn from her knowledge and experience. She is also dedicated to collaborating with her colleagues and was central to the success of a recent engagement event that started with the Trust signing the Caring For You Charter and continued with visits around the hospital to share the campaign with members and to gather ideas about how to progress plans further. She is a real asset to the Trust – congratulations Jayne.”

Audra Muxlow, Head of Midwifery, Nursing and Professions at Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are thrilled that Jayne has been recognised for all her hard work and dedication. She is committed to supporting midwives to be the best they can be for the benefit of mums, their babies and families. She’s a great member of the team because she’s consistently hardworking, supportive and non-judgemental. It’s a great achievement – well done Jayne!”

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For more information about the work of The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, please visit: http://www.therotherhamft.nhs.uk/ You can also join the 4,430+ followers we have on Twitter @RotherhamNHS_FT or ‘like us’ on Facebook www.facebook.com/TheRotherhamNHSFoundationTrust.