My life in nursing - Barbara bows out after 45 years

Rather she wanted to be a racing driver.

"I liked the speed of it, the freedom, I liked living on the edge," she admitted.

She admits to still liking speed although she says, at 64, she drives more sedately now.

It was when she was bored one day Barbara decided to apply to become a nurse.

It was the first step in a career in which she was to have national influence and be honoured by the Queen.

"I'd had quite a few jobs in London when I was 18," she said.

"I had been at the Home Office and worked in a bank and for an insurance firm.

"I liked it. The hours were terrific and the pay was brilliant, so was the social life.

"My friend and I were bored one day and I applied to go into nursing.

"My dad said if you do that job, you have to stay with it.

"I was quite rebellious in those days, not disrespectful, but life is for living and should be full of fun."

Barbara still has a rebellious twinkle in her eye.

She stands at just 4 ft 11 ins in her stockinged feet and is warm, kind and caring but she is also a force of nature who has dealt with four Government health ministers and has firm opinions on former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Barbara began her nursing career at Southend Hospital.

She said: "I went for my interview. I did not have any O levels (I had been a bit of a chatterbox at school) and was supposed to sit a General Nursing Council test.

"It was my grandmother's funeral that day so I couldn't sit the test. They asked me the Miss World sort of questions 'Why do you want to be a nurse'.

"I gave the Miss World answers - to help and save people."

She got the job.

Barbara took to nursing straight away. "I felt it was a job I was privileged to do, I felt humbled.

"The training was hands on, you learnt quickly, but I can remember being in charge of a medical ward at night which was not right. The new training is better but perhaps it needs to be more hands on."

Barbara insists she was never ambitious. She did not seek promotions but was asked, repeatedly, to apply for posts which led to her phenomenal achievements.

She became a community nurse and then manager of the night district nursing team.

But when she was 27, she was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a rare form of cancer.

Barbara underwent surgery and is philosophical about her survival. "I am still alive. I am not up there or down below. That is all that matters."

However, her consultant recommended she gave up the gruelling night shifts and in the 1980s, she became the clinical director for operations at Southend Community Care Service. She piloted a scheme to allow district nurses to be able to prescribe certain drugs to their patients.

It was not an easy ride.

Barbara locked horns with doctors, the British Medical Association and the Daily Mail which suggested it was getting doctors on the cheap.

But Barbara was committed to the scheme - the nurses knew their patients and knew how best to care for them.

In 1992, legislation was passed which allowed nurses to prescribe. It was enshrined in law four years later.

Barbara became the project manager nurse prescribing for the Department of Health in 1996 and her trailblazing scheme won her national - and Royal recognition.

She was awarded a CBE - although she had to go to look up what it meant.

"It was brilliant, absolutely unbelievable," said Barbara. "I went to Buckingham Palace and it was presented by the Queen. She was lovely.

"My dad, Philip Coote, came with me. He was extremely proud."

Barbara moved on to become the manager of the nurse prescribing project for London and the South East regions in 1999 which saw regular meetings with Government health ministers.

"I went through four," she said. "John Denham was my favourite. He listened and respected my view. Respect is earned, not given."

Other titles notched up included being director of integrated care at Castle Point and Rochford Primary Care Trust and director of primary care, development with Thurrock Primary Care Trust and deputy chief executive of South West Essex Primary Care Trust.

In 2011, she decided it was time to retire.

"I was not sure about the move from primary care trusts to clinical commissioning groups and handing over the decision making," she said.

She enjoyed a few carefree months of retirement seeing more of her sons James, 39, and Ian, 38, and her grandsons.

She holidayed in Portugal, Spain and the Maldives and took her grandsons to Lapland.

But a call from and old friend Dr Ruth May, executive director of nursing, NHS Improvement, changed that.

Barb, as she calls her, was needed.

She asked her to help at health trusts facing difficulties including Mid Staffs and eventually Colchester.

Barbara said: "Ruth asked me to come here. It was only supposed to be here for six months but that was in 2014."

The Colchester hospital trust was in crisis. It was in special measures after damning reports from the Care Quality Commission.

Barbara was appointed as director of nursing to try to help the hospital out its critical situation.

"I thought the nurses were terrific," she said, "but they did not have a voice.

"There was enormous pressure from the external beast. There was inspection after inspection and it took the managers away from the needs of the hospital.

"The staff were quite subdued and a bit beaten.

"Every one of them comes to work to do a good job. Every one of them cares about their patients. Some of the criticisms were unjust.

"I tried to give the nurses a voice and to make them believe in themselves again.

"I tried to improve standards. I would have loved for the hospital to have got out of special measures by the time I leave but I have not been able to do that.

"There is still work to do."

As she looks forward to her second retirement, Barbara is still not convinced that will be the end of her 45 year love affair with nursing.

"I may do something as an interim, just two or three days a week," she confesses.

And was her father right to tell her to stay in nursing.

"Yes," admits Barbara, a little reluctantly. "It has been an absolute privilege."