Hamnet Reminded Me About Women, Care, and Leadership

I recently went to see Hamnet, and it stayed with me long after I left the cinema. Not because of spectacle or drama, but because of what it reveals about a kind of strength we rarely pause to notice or properly value.

The film captures women whose knowledge is carried in the body. Knowledge shaped by years of experience, repetition, responsibility and care. Knowing when something isn't right before it shows up anywhere measurable. Adjusting instinctively because you've seen this moment before. Holding grief, risk and humanity at the same time - and still continuing.

I recognise those women immediately.

I have worked alongside them for decades in the NHS and across the care system. They are on wards, in clinics, in people's homes and in communities. Their judgement is often quiet, rarely named, but absolutely essential. Much of what keeps care compassionate, safe and human - especially under pressure - rests on this embodied expertise.

Too often, this is described as intuition, dedication or vocation. In reality, it is skill. It is professional judgement earned over time. It is leadership, even when it carries no formal title.

This feels deeply relevant as we mark International Women's Day 2026. When we talk about fairness, justice and sustainability in our systems, we often focus on structures, metrics and policy. All of those matter. But justice also depends on whether we truly see whose knowledge counts, whose work is recognised, and whose leadership we make room for.

A fairer, more sustainable health and care system begins when the knowledge women carry - in practice, in presence, and in lived experience - is recognised not as background noise, but as central to how good care actually happens.

My work in coaching and leadership development is shaped by these experiences. I work with individuals and teams across health and care who are carrying complex responsibility, often without the language or recognition to name their own expertise. Creating space to recognise embodied knowledge, professional judgement and values-based leadership is central to how I work - because when people can see the value of what they bring, they lead with greater clarity, confidence and impact.