The Nursing Times impact list, compiled to mark the 75th anniversary of the NHS, honours 75 nurses and midwives who have contributed in a significant way to the service or are rising stars. It includes the likes of Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, who became the UK’s first sickle-cell and thalassemia nurse specialist in 1979 and Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, England’s first Chief Midwife, appointed in 2019, now Chief Midwife for the International Confederation of Midwives. 

Benash, who co-founded the Association of South Asian Midwives, is praised for her passion in addressing health inequalities, supporting marginalised staff and striving to improve maternity services for marginalised communities, particularly looking at ethnicity. 

Benash said: "It means there is recognition for the work I do. It’s not about me. I will come and go but this work, sadly, isn’t going anywhere and needs to be carried forward. 

"Complex care needs are similar across all ethnic groups, but Black and Asian communities suffer disproportionately from higher mortality rates during their maternity journey. Why? We can't keep saying its due to economic deprivation or higher complex care needs.  If you look at the stark statistics, those living in economically deprived areas are still more likely to have a stillbirth or neonatal death or die in pregnancy, childbirth or the postnatal period, than their similarly deprived white neighbours. We need to do more work in this area to find out."

'Research makes an impact'

Benash, who moved from Kashmir to Manchester with her family when she was four, trained as a midwife at Bradford, graduating in 2011. Having worked her way up on wards around the country, she moved to Bolton NHS Foundation Trust in 2020, where she created her own role as Cultural Liaison Midwife, looking specifically at supporting local services to improve maternal and perinatal outcomes for Black and Asian communities.

Afterwards, Benash decided academia was the way she could change lives and took up a research position at the University of Nottingham before joining Bradford last July. In fact, her own anniversary came just a day before the NHS’s, on July 4th. 

It’s been quite the year for Benash, 33, who married her husband Badar Khan in December and the pair recently moved into a new home. 

She said: "I came to the University of Bradford because I know that research makes an impact. I know the future is going to be changed by future generations, by our students. I’m in a place where I can collaborate with individuals here and with the local community, which is diverse."

Benash is the co-chair for the Racial Injustice in UK Maternity Services Inquiry by Birth Rights Charity. She has been on several national panels looking at health inequalities, including a recent NHS Race and Health Observatory on maternal health and she is currently supporting the Care Quality Commission with their EDI (Equality, diversity and inclusion) work. A vocal advocate, Benash has challenged the Nursing and Midwifery Council over disciplinary cases concerning minority ethnic staff members.

The Nursing Times list also notes that the cultural competency and safety workshops Benash runs for maternity healthcare professionals have been used as a case study of good practice for the NHS Equity and Equality Guidance for Local Maternity Systems.

Benash, a fellow for the Royal College of Midwives, won the Groundbreaking Researcher Award at the BAME Health & Care awards, 2022, and was shortlisted for the RCM Race Matters Award 2021. 

• Also on the list is Dame Yvonne Moores, who was given an Honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Bradford in 1998.  Dame Yvonne is the only person to have been chief nursing officer of three different countries in the UK – Wales, Scotland and England. During her tenure, she secured ministerial commitments for the first ever quality framework for the NHS and the introduction of nurse prescribing.