Plymouth nurse promoted to Head of Nursing and Clinical Services

A nurse who has dedicated her entire nursing career to Plymouth and the South West, has been promoted to the role of Head of Nursing and Clinical Services at Peninsula NHS Treatment Centre.

Margaret Mahoney qualified as a registered nurse in 1998, at Derriford Hospital (now Plymouth University Hospitals NHS Trust - UHP). Within six months she was promoted to senior staff nurse. Margaret rose through the various nursing grades to eventually become secondment matron, covering for the permanent matron.

In her time at Derriford she oversaw the complete refurbishment of her department, embraced the role of antibiotic stewardship and ended up overseeing the running of five operating theatres, gastroenterology endoscopy, urology, the renal unit and satellite dialysis unit, as well as the transplant coordination team.

Margaret left Derriford in 2015 to join the team at Peninsula NHS Treatment Centre, initially as Clinical Governance Manager and Deputy Head of Nursing before becoming Operations Manager and ultimately Head of Nursing and Clinical Services.

In her time at Peninsula Margaret has been a lead member of the team and played a vital role in some important milestones for the hospital. She was part of the team which helped the hospital achieve an ‘Outstanding’ rating from the CQC, making it the first hospital of its kind to be awarded this accolade. She has overseen the development of new operating theatres, day surgery theatre and a dedicated endoscopy suite, as well as the introduction of new surgical procedures. She was also part of the team which saw Peninsula achieve Joint Advisory Group accreditation for its then new endoscopy service – making it one of only a handful of hospitals in the country to achieve this at the first attempt.

Margaret is now heading a clinical team which mobilised brand new surgical specialties to the hospital within one week in order to ensure NHS patients receive the treatment they need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The mobilisation is in support of NHS patients and colleagues at UHP. During the COVID-19 crisis, clinical and administrative teams at Peninsula NHS Treatment Centre are supporting colleagues at UHP by opening operating theatres to a wide range of surgical specialties, running clinics from the Outpatient Department and offering MRI services. The 30-bed inpatient ward facilities are also being used for UHP patients.

Speaking of her promotion Margaret commented: “I am delighted to have been promoted to the role of Head of Nursing and Clinical Services, especially at this time when we have had to rethink our entire hospital and how we deliver care in order to meet the needs of patients whose treatment might otherwise have had to be deferred. We have a fantastic team here at Peninsula and everyone has risen to the challenge with professionalism, enthusiasm and a good heart – I am immensely proud of the whole team.”

Mark White, Hospital Director at Peninsula NHS Treatment Centre, added: “We are very fortunate to have in Margaret a health professional with a wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise. Her leadership skills are second to none and her ‘can do’ spirit is an inspiration to us all as we face the biggest challenge in our 15 year history of working closely with the NHS.”

Margaret’s promotion comes in the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, marking the bicentennial of the birth of Florence Nightingale.