A career that started at 18

With an interest in human biology at school and a mum who worked in healthcare, nursing felt like a natural choice.

“I decided at an early age that I wanted to be a nurse and applied and started my training a few months after my 18th birthday.”

Her early training combined classroom learning with hands-on experience on the wards, where student nurses and midwives worked alongside qualified staff while studying for their qualifications.

“I do believe that the training we received was excellent. Working alongside ward staff enabled us to apply the theory we had learnt in the classroom to the clinical situation within the ward environment.”

After qualifying as a nurse, Yvonne went on to complete her midwifery training, beginning a career that would see her spend 30 years working in midwifery.

Initially hospital-based, she moved into community midwifery in 1985 before taking up a matron’s post in women’s health, covering gynaecology inpatient and outpatient services.

From delivering babies to improving patient care

Yvonne’s career continued to develop, with a secondment as head of legal services and patient safety in 2015, followed by roles in quality improvement and corporate governance.

One particularly memorable moment came during her time as midwifery matron, when a patient nominated the maternity unit for an award. The team was named the North West winner, and Yvonne joined colleagues at a presentation event in London, including a reception at the House of Commons.

“I have been fortunate in some of the positions that I have held as they have afforded me the opportunity to influence change.”

Throughout her career, Yvonne has enjoyed helping and caring for people, as well as communicating with patients and their families.

“I loved delivering babies and caring for the families before and afterwards.”

Finding a new challenge at NWAS

After taking early retirement, Yvonne was looking for a part-time role where she could continue to use her skills and experience. This led her to NWAS, where she began as a senior clinical advisor in NHS 111.

Although she had some experience of telephone triage through her midwifery work, the ambulance service was a new environment.

“Prior to starting with 111, I had no knowledge of how the ambulance service or 111 operated. I had some experience of telephone triage from my clinical midwifery, however the Pathways triage system was different from what I had previously experienced.”

She progressed to clinical duty manager before successfully applying for her current role as an ICC clinical navigator.

Working as part of the ICC clinical navigator team, Yvonne risk-assesses requests for ambulances in the clinical stack, helping determine whether an ambulance is needed or whether telephone triage and other services would be more appropriate for the patient.

The team also prioritises clinically urgent calls in the NHS 111 clinical queue for a clinician callback and provides clinical advice to NWAS colleagues, including clinicians and dispatch teams.

Experience that continues to make a difference

Although the setting has changed considerably throughout her career, many of the skills Yvonne developed in nursing and midwifery remain central to her work today.

“Communications skills, time management, attention to detail regarding record keeping and clinical knowledge about different medical conditions and their presentations that I learnt in my nurse training” are all things she continues to draw on.

She has also seen significant changes across the NHS, particularly in the financial and performance pressures facing services, as well as the way patients access information and their expectations of care.

Despite these changes, her motivation has remained the same: helping people and making a difference to their care.

Proud to be part of NWAS

As NWAS celebrates its 20th anniversary, Yvonne is proud to be part of the organisation.

“I am proud to work for NWAS and it is pleasing to read in the communications about the ‘20 for 20’ nominees and to read their stories.”

From starting her NHS career as a teenager to helping shape patient care across nursing, midwifery and the ambulance service, Yvonne’s story reflects a lifelong commitment to caring for people and using her experience to make a difference.