Speaking from the heart – Chief Nurse gives inaugural speech as a professor

Guy’s and St Thomas’ Chief Nurse has given her inaugural lecture, marking being made a professor of King’s College London.
 
Professor Avey Bhatia OBE spoke passionately and with humour about her inspiring career and the road to leadership in front of a packed auditorium filled with colleagues past and present, including Trust Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard, and people who listened in online from across the globe. 
 
Avey used her first lecture as Professor of the Practice of Nursing for the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing Midwifery & Palliative Care to emphasise that compassionate care must remain at the heart of nursing as technology in healthcare advances.

She said: “We can’t yet fully understand and appreciate the technology, and the way we will work and care for our patients in the future.

"But what we do know is nurses leading, engaging and driving it is absolutely crucial for workflows and to ensure that safety and efficiency are not impeded.”

Avey spoke proudly of her Indian heritage and candidly about a 34 year career that included leading the introduction of a new electronic patient health record system Epic at Guy’s and St Thomas’. Avey also spoke movingly about the personal challenge of having a family and juggling home life alongside many demanding roles.
 
During her speech, she charted a career where she gained valuable experience in numerous clinical areas including theatres, coronary care, cardiothoracic nursing and intensive care at St Thomas'. She took opportunities when they arose in different hospital settings and with sheer determination managed to "break into operational management" and eventually senior leadership. 
 
She said her proudest moment came when Guy’s and St Thomas’ Kofoworola Abeni Pratt Fellowship won the Dame Elizabeth Anionwu award for inclusivity in nursing and midwifery at the Nursing Times awards in October 2023. 

The Fellowship aims to address the racial inequality facing senior leaders who identify as being from global majority backgrounds. This includes people who are Black, Asian, Brown, or have previously been described as 'ethnic minorities'.
 
Avey said: “As an Asian Chief Nurse in one of the largest Trust’s in this country, supporting nurses, midwives and AHPs (allied healthcare professionals) from the global majority is my duty and an absolute honour.”
 
Watch the speech at https://youtu.be/9z_zjeeFgFE