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The power of communities to address major healthcare challenges will be at the heart of a free public lecture by a Âéw¶¹´«Ã½ (Âéw¶¹´«Ã½) nursing expert with decades of experience.

With over 30 years of experience, including pioneering community mental health care initiatives, Âéw¶¹´«Ã½’s Professor Tania Hart has led numerous healthcare workforce transformation projects creating innovative roles and ways of working.

And now she will capture all she has learned in her inaugural lecture A Catalyst for Change, which will take place this Tuesday (10 December) in Âéw¶¹´«Ã½’s Hugh Aston Building, from 6pm.

During her talk, Professor Hart will emphasise the importance of evidence-based approaches and knowledge advancement in modernising the NHS workforce.

Beginning her career as a mental health nurse, in 1992 she took her work into the community as a Community Paediatric Nurse (CPN), where she developed innovative approaches to support mental health patients in their communities, setting the stage for her life-long dedication to transforming healthcare and workforce innovation.

Since then, her work has spanned clinical practice, academia, and leadership in Continuous Professional Development (CPD).

Professor Hart said: “Supporting patients and empowering professionals has been at the heart of my work since my early days in outreach nursing.

“Through these experiences, I’ve seen first-hand how new ways of working and empowering communities can create a profound and lasting impact on our health.”

Over the years, Professor Hart has been instrumental in designing and implementing transformative initiatives within the NHS. Her inaugural lecture is set to map out her journey and highlight three key initiatives that focus on her work in introducing new roles and working models to address emerging challenges.

One of her most recent contributions is her involvement in training Professional Nurse Advocates (PNAs), a role introduced to the NHS post-COVID. PNAs provide critical support to their nursing peers, addressing the stress and strain of working in the NHS among rising patient needs and workforce shortages.

She said: “With a growing and aging population presenting more complex health conditions, coupled with recruitment and retention challenges, it is vital to explore new ways of working and create roles that fill these gaps.

“But it’s not just about introducing new roles; it’s also about empowering individuals and communities to take charge of their own health and well-being.”

Professor Hart's lecture will reflect on her own experiences in community empowerment as essential to sustainable healthcare. Her work also emphasises the importance of incorporating the voices of children and young people in shaping health initiatives, she believes the insights of younger people often offer innovative solutions missed by traditional top-down approaches.

 Professor Hart’s personal passion is motivational interviewing which underscores her belief in empowering individuals. She said: “This communication approach encourages people to embrace change in a way that feels achievable and meaningful to them.

 “Whether it’s nurses supporting other nurses or children expressing their mental health needs, empowerment is the key to lasting change.”

Professor Hart emphasises that while workforce transformation is crucial, it is not the sole solution to the challenges facing the healthcare sector. Her experiences show that community empowerment initiatives often result in better health outcomes and reduce the strain on health services.

Through her projects, she has championed asking the right questions and listening to the voices of those directly affected, she added: “Children may not have the expertise in workforce transformation, but their perspectives on what they need are often brilliant and transformative.”