Friday, January 9th 2026 marked the last NHS working day for the wonderful Jeannie Walls! Of course, here at First Touch we have an especially soft spot for Jeannie, as she was one of the founders of the charity! Jeannie was also a nurse, then a sister on St George’s neonatal unit for 20 years, and she will be remembered with love by many parents and members of staff. Jeannie’s super power however, was education. She was a treasured mentor to many, many junior nurses, and was a respected teacher to the resident medical staff. She taught with joy, affection, and humour, the best mix to cement skills in what could be an intimidating and scary speciality! On a personal level, I learnt some much from Jeannie as a neonatal consultant, clinical skills, but also those all important soft skills: how to lead when things got tough, how to teach with patience and humility.
Jeannie was the first Neonatal Simulation Practitioner on the neonatal unit, a post funded by First Touch, and kickstarted the unit’s simulation program. Under her leadership, the program expanded and emphasised a multidisciplinary team approach to problem solving – obvious now, but pretty revolutionary back then!
After 20 years on the unit, Jeannie moved on to a post in St George’s resuscitation services, which enabled her to grow into her role as a teacher. This meant she stayed in touch with all her old friends on the unit, as she continued to lead on teaching Newborn Life Support (NLS) to the neonatal and midwifery staff. Now onto retirement! We wish Jeannie all the very best, she will always be part of the St George’s Neonatal Unit and First Touch family.