When I qualified in Harare in 1998, there were three Zimbabwean nurses on my unit in Manchester when I arrived six years later. Today there are over two hundred across the Greater Manchester trust alone. We have built quietly, and now we need to be organised. This is the first post of what will be a regular column from the executive committee. We will write about the policy questions we are tackling, the specialty circles we are forming, and the mentorship matches that have worked. We will also share the awkward stuff — the pairings that did not work and what we learned. This is how a professional body earns trust: by being honest in public about its own practice, not just the practice of its members. If you are reading this and not yet a member, join us. The tier you can afford is the tier you belong to.
April 21, 2026