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Sarah Hookes

Sarah Hookes

Sarah is a Senior Safety & Learning Advisor for the Welsh Risk Pool with responsibility for maternity safety and learning programmes. Sarah was initially seconded to the Welsh Risk Pool in 2018 as the National Lead Midwife for the PROMPT Wales programme and joined the team full time in May 2020. Sarah maintains the strategic leadership for PROMPT Wales and has successfully led the development and roll out of Community PROMPT Wales. She is proud to be a member of the PROMPT Maternity Foundation faculty and supports their Train the Trainer courses.

Sarah’s NHS career started in 1989 when she commenced Registered General Nurse training at Glan Clwyd Hospital, North Wales, qualifying in 1992 and consolidating her training on the paediatric ward. Sarah went on to pursue midwifery training at Bangor University and qualified with a Diploma in Midwifery in 1995.

After spending her first four years as a rotational midwife gaining valuable experience in all areas of midwifery, Sarah spent a further 16 fulfilling years as a community midwife in North Wales. During this time Sarah qualified as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and started up and ran antenatal and postnatal breastfeeding groups and was the ‘go-to’ person for breastfeeding advice and support in the area.

In 2011, Sarah returned to study at Bangor University, gaining a BSc in Health Studies in 2013. This encouraged Sarah to widen her experience of maternity services by taking up two successive secondment posts in Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. Sarah particularly enjoyed the ‘project manager’ post which provided an opportunity to develop the alongside midwife-led unit at Glan Clwyd Hospital and which saw a significant increase in the number of women accessing this service during her time in post.

In 2015, Sarah took up the permanent post of Professional Development Midwife until 2020, during which time she gained a Professional Graduate Certificate in Education at Glyndwr University. This was the first post of its kind at BCUHB and Sarah developed an annual midwifery update programme ensuring an engaging and valuable learning experience which was well received by her midwifery colleagues. Sarah went on to lead the successful implementation of PROMPT training in the three North Wales maternity units demonstrating her passion for quality multi-professional learning and development. This inspired Sarah to study leadership and quality improvement, and she is currently in her final year studying for an MSc in Leading Quality Improvement at Bangor University.

Wherever her career takes her, Sarah is a community midwife through and through and this continues to positively influence her in her role as Senior Safety & Learning Advisor. She is very much enjoying working in a national role and feels privileged to be able to contribute to maternity and neonatal safety in Wales.

Sarah is married and has 2 ‘young adult’ sons and a cat! She loves living in North Wales and in her spare time she enjoys long walks along the North Wales coastal path and has recently taken up yoga.

 

Contact Details 


Email: Sarah.Hookes2@wales.nhs.uk