The following is Professor Dame Betty Kershaw's feedback, as the Department of Nursing at the Faculty of Health Sciences, commemorate International Nurses Day and honour the wonderful contribution of the late Professor Rizzo Naudi.
In 1988 I was asked by the UK Department of Health to join a team working with the then newly elected Maltese Government as it prepared the Health Service to meet the criteria required by the professions as the country sought to enter the European Union. My role was to help develop Nurse Training, assisting the Maltese teachers not only to prepare and teach the EU curriculum for Registration but to further create Post Registration courses for their trained nurse. These post basic courses were very much wanted by the Minister responsible for Health, name John Rizzo-Naudi. He was especially interested in improving rehabilitation, community nursing, care for older people and end of life care.
The work continued for some years. The Professor and his Parliamentary Secretary, Josef Camilleri visited Manchester several times to discuss the progress. The Head of the School, Miss Mary Borg, completed an MA in Education at the University in Manchester, whilst several other staff were helped to undertake courses, attend conferences or make short educational visits.
In order to prepare and teach the new degree programme a link had been developed with The University of Liverpool, through Ms Barbara Burkey and the NHS supported staff worked closely with her, as did the Head of the Cambridge School of Midwifery who was later to join the initiative.
Prof Rizzo-Naudi proved an excellent partner and co-ordinator: knowledgeable, accessible, questioning, interested, facilitative and, above all neither he nor his colleagues presumed to understand Nursing. A rare gift in the medical staff of the past.
I continued to work with him and his team until Malta had not only entered the EU but had clearly demonstrated to EU colleagues the quality of the nursing education and of their qualified nurses. He maintained an active interest in all aspects of our profession and the quality of care we provide long after he retired to write his last book. I saw him a few years ago when I visited Malta on holiday and enjoyed talking with him about changes in progress.
Malta, and the Maltese people owe a lot to Prof John Rizzo-Naudi. It was an honour to work with him, his colleagues and, most especially the Maltese nurse teachers and the nurses they taught.
Author: Professor Dame Betty Kershaw DBE FRCN OStJ
