A children’s nurse consultant from Salford Royal has been awarded an MBE for services to paediatric nursing.
Julie Flaherty, 59, started as a cadet nurse in 1973 at Booth Hall Hospital in Manchester and estimates that she has cared for more than half a million children throughout her career.
She started work at Salford Royal in 2005 and is Nurse Consultant in the Trust’s Panda Unit, the emergency department for children with acute illness and injury.
Julie, mother of four children and three step children, said she was ‘flabbergasted’ to receive a letter from the Cabinet Office announcing she was on the New Year’s Honours list.
She said: “I am really, really pleased, excited and tearful, all the emotions you can have to be honest. It is such a privilege and honour.
Read: Salford firefighter wins British Empire Medal in New Year’s Honours
“From leaving school I have always worked with children, I feel I have an affinity with them, they are amazing.”
Julie has dedicated her spare time volunteering for humanitarian efforts around the world and has travelled to Uganda, the Mumbai slums and more recently Sierra Leone, where she helped during the Ebola breakout.
Last month she was presented with a Spirit of Salford award, which recognises members of the community who go the extra mile to help others.
Julie became a Consultant in 2000 and said some aspects of the job can be incredibly emotional.
“Some cases can be really tragic,” she said.
“You can’t help but feel the compassion for our patients and their families and even after all these years, I do still get a lump in my throat or tears in my eyes when something wonderful or horrendous happens.
“After all the years in children’s nursing I can honestly say it’s a wonderful job, of course there are difficult days when I have seen some sad things, but fortunately this happens less and less these days.
Read: New Year’s Honours: OBE for Morson’s Ged Mason
“In emergency work, you don’t spend days getting to know patients like they may do on a ward as the children are only with us for a few hours but after 43 years as a nurse, I often see parents or grandparents coming to the department who I used to look after when they were children themselves.
“I enjoy my work so much; there is never a dull moment in this job. I can’t think of a single day when I didn’t want to come into work.”
Elaine Inglesby-Burke, Executive Director of Nursing and Deputy Chief Executive at Salford Royal, said: “We are all thrilled that Julie has been awarded this much-deserved honour.
“Julie is an extremely dedicated nurse who has always been passionate about her role.
“To be awarded an MBE is recognition that her hard work does not go unnoticed and we are all incredibly proud of all that she has achieved, and will no doubt continue to achieve, in the interests of our youngest patients here at Salford Royal.”
