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New year’s honours: nurses recognised for commitment and care during COVID-19 response

Staff from hospitals, care homes and the community honoured for their work

Nursing staff from hospitals, care homes, research and the community honoured for their work to support patients and colleagues


Some of the nurses from across the UK named in the new year’s honours list

Dozens of nurses have been recognised in the new year’s honours list, after a year that has highlighted the work of the profession like never before.

Nurses working in intensive care units, care homes, research and the community are among those featured in the honours, with some recognised for safeguarding vulnerable patients and addressing ethnic inequalities in healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Greta Westwood, chief executive of the Florence Nightingale Foundation
Greta Westwood

Paving the way for nurse well-being support in the pandemic

Among those honoured is Florence Nightingale Foundation chief executive Greta Westwood, who is made a CBE for services to nursing and midwifery.

At the start of the pandemic Professor Westwood recognised the need to support nurses’ mental health. Together with the foundation’s team, she set up the Nightingale Frontline leadership support service to provide emotional and well-being support to nurses and midwives working on the front line during the pandemic.

Professor Westwood returned to support the nursing front line by hosting mental health workshops during the first wave of the pandemic and is also planning to help this winter, as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.

‘As a nurse you are always a nurse,’ she said. ‘When there is a crisis nurses always want to come and help.’

Leadership in intensive care during the COVID-19 response

Carol Doggett, senior matron intensive care at Morriston Hospital in Swansea, receives an MBE for services to leadership and nursing care for intensive care patients and staff, particularly during the COVID-19 response.

Carol Doggett, senior matron, Morriston Hospital, Swansea
Carol Doggett

At the start of the pandemic, Ms Doggett was tasked with expanding the critical care capacity for Swansea from 28 beds to 117 within three weeks. She also delivered rapid training to a cohort of 156 staff redeployed to deliver critical care nursing.

Among the challenges faced by Ms Doggett and her team was delivering care to 13 members of staff who became patients on the intensive therapy unit (ITU). Ms Doggett also provided personal support when three partners of staff members were admitted to the unit.

Reacting to the MBE announcement, Ms Doggett paid tribute to staff and the patients they cared for. ‘I accept it on behalf of all the staff from critical care and other departments who stepped up and supported the enormity of the first wave, and on behalf of all the patients we nursed with COVID-19 in ITU,’ she said.

Recognition for Filipino nurses in the UK

Staff nurse Charito Romano, who works at Arbrook House Care Home in Esher, Surrey, is awarded a BEM for services to nursing care home residents during the COVID-19 response.

Charito Romano, care home nurse
Charito Romano

During the pandemic, the deputy manager of the care home was absent due to shielding. ‘I just stood up and took action,’ Ms Romano told Nursing Standard. ‘Whatever the guidelines or the government said, I acted on it and put it into place to make sure I supported the manager so that our care home was safe.’

Ms Romano, who is originally from the Philippines, acknowledged the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on nurses from the country, adding: ‘It is so nice to be recognised knowing that I am a Filipino nurse and not trained in the UK.’

‘Nurses’ contributions are an everyday honour’

RCN chair of nursing research at Cardiff University’s school of healthcare sciences Daniel Kelly is made an OBE for services to cancer care research and education nationally and internationally.

Daniel Kelly, RCN chair of nursing research at Cardiff University
Daniel Kelly

Professor Kelly said he felt the award reflected all he had learned from colleagues in practice, education and research roles over the years.

‘Nurses are the key support structure for people with serious illnesses such as cancer, and their contributions are an everyday honour.’

As the RCN chair of nursing research, Professor Kelly has also studied the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on nurses’ mental well-being and said that research highlighted the need to support staff.

‘My recent research into nurses’ experiences of COVID-19 shows just how the pressures that nurses are working under multiply the challenges that they are facing,’ he said.

Protecting colleagues and patients through training

Andrew Cooper, chief petty officer, Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service
Andrew Cooper

Chief Petty Officer Andrew Cooper of Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service is awarded a Royal Red Cross for helping train junior staff in how to treat COVID-19 patients and helping protect colleagues from the virus.

CPO Cooper trained staff in assisted intubation and the use of non-invasive ventilation – medical care often required for COVID-19 patients – and helped train colleagues in how to work in full personal protective equipment.

He also led the redesign of the emergency department at Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandra Hospital.

Of the honour, he said: ‘I couldn’t believe it at first, but my work this year has been a team effort.’

Dedication and professionalism across the workforce

RCN general secretary Dame Donna Kinnair congratulated the nurses named in the new year’s honours and paid tribute to all nurses across the UK for their work during 2020.

‘They should all be enormously proud to be acknowledged in this way,’ Professor Kinnair said. ‘And to the many more whose names are not on there, I am extremely proud of your dedication too.

‘From hospitals to care homes, in GP practices and in people’s own homes, they should all end the year with their heads held high for the dedication and professionalism they have shown.’

The nurses named in the 2021 new year’s honours list

Joy Duxbury, professor of mental health, Manchester Metropolitan University
Joy Duxbury

Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)

  • Col Alison Louise McCourt Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps
  • Greta Westwood Chief executive officer, Florence Nightingale Foundation. For services to nursing and midwifery

Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)

  • Joy Duxbury Professor of mental health, Manchester Metropolitan University. For services to mental health nursing
  • Daniel Kelly RCN chair of nursing research at Cardiff University’s school of healthcare sciences. For services to cancer care research and education nationally and internationally
  • Alexandra Milne Staff commander, first aid nursing yeomanry. For services to emergency incident response and the COVID-19 response in London
  • Catherine Morgan Chief nurse, East of England region, NHS England and NHS Improvement. For services to nursing

Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)

Aquiline Chivinge, senior nurse research leader, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Aquiline Chivinge

  • Julie Cawthorne Assistant chief nurse and clinical director of infection prevention and control, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. For services to nursing and the COVID-19 response
  • Aquiline Chivinge Senior nurse research leader, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. For services to patients from ethnic minority backgrounds
  • Sarah Clarke Director and lead nurse of adult critical care and major trauma, Cheshire and Mersey Operational Delivery Networks. For services to nursing and to the COVID-19 response
  • Jacqueline Copping Deputy director of nursing, James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Norfolk. For services to nursing, particularly during the COVID-19 response
  • Diane Dodsworth Head of nursing and critical care, Parkside Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, Surrey. For services to nursing, particularly during the COVID-19 response
  • Carol Doggett Senior matron, intensive care, Morriston Hospital, Swansea. For services to leadership and nursing care for intensive care patients and staff, particularly during the COVID-19 response
  • LT Jenny Dyson, Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service

    Judith Tsitsi Machiwenyika, nurse consultant, Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
    Judith Tsitsi
    Machiwenyika

  • Bethan Eaton-Haskins Executive director of quality and nursing and chief nurse, South East Coast Ambulance Service. For services to nursing, particularly during the COVID-19 response
  • Michelle Johnson Chief nurse, Whittington Health NHS Trust, London. For services to nursing, particularly during the COVID-19 response
  • Lisa Knight Chief nurse, London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust. For services to nursing during the COVID-19 response
  • Judith Tsitsi Machiwenyika Nurse consultant, Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. For services to nursing and to black, Asian and minority ethnic equality, particularly during the COVID-19 response
  • Christine Pearson Executive director of nursing, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust. For services to nursing, particularly during the COVID-19 response
  • Patricia Roughan Pease Associate chief nurse for safeguarding, mental health and learning disabilities. For services to nursing, children, young people and safeguarding, particularly during the COVID-19 response
  • Joanna Snow Matron, intensive care unit, Kettering General Hospital, Northamptonshire. For services to the NHS and patients, particularly during the COVID-19 response

Medallist of the Order of the British Empire (BEM)

Wendy Clapham Assistant director, nursing services for critical care, Northern Care Alliance NHS Group
Wendy Clapham

  • Deborah Buck Clinical practice lead, East London Foundation Trust. For services to mental health nursing, particularly during the COVID-19 response
  • Wendy Clapham Assistant director, nursing services for critical care, Northern Care Alliance NHS Group. For services to nursing, particularly during the COVID-19 response

Asha Day Nurse, health visitor and clinical team leader, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust
Asha Day

  • Anne Claydon Ward manager, Barts Health NHS Trust, London. For services to nursing during the COVID-19 response
  • Elizabeth Corrigan General practice nurse and professional lead facilitator, Black Country and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Groups. For services to nursing during the COVID-19 response
  • Asha Day Nurse, health visitor and clinical team leader, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust. For services to the NHS and to minority ethnic equality during the COVID-19 response
  • Catherine Fitzsimmons Lately palliative care nurse, Northern Care Alliance NHS Group. For services to nursing during the COVID-19 response
  • Judith Graham Queen’s Nurse, director for psychological professionals, and Freedom to Speak Up guardian, Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust. For services to the NHS during the COVID-19 response
  • Karen Kembery Clinical nurse specialist, Neath Port Talbot Hospital, Wales. For services to nursing in West Glamorgan
  • Tracy Madge Interim associate chief nurse, NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group. For services to healthcare during the COVID-19 response

Louise Maltby Matron, intensive care unit, Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Surrey
Louise Maltby

  • Louise Maltby Matron, intensive care unit, Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Surrey. For services to nursing during the COVID-19 response
  • Sara Robertson Matron, neonatal intensive care unit, Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Surrey. For services to nursing during the COVID-19 response
  • Charito Romano Staff nurse, Arbrook House Care Home, Esher, Surrey. For services to nursing care home residents during the COVID-19 response

Royal Red Cross

First Class

  • Lt Col Margaret Duffield Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps, Army Reserve
  • Col Geoffrey Hall Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps
  • Gp Capt Michael John Priestly Princess Mary’s Royal Air Force Nursing Service

Second Class

Major Nicola Corkish, Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps
Nicola Corkish

  • CPO Andrew Cooper Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service
  • Lt Zoe Haggerty Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service
  • Lt Cdr Louise Moxworthy Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service
  • SSgt Emma Clarke Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps
  • Maj Samantha Cobb Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps
  • Maj Nicola Corkish Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps
  • Maj Ami Newburn-Johnson Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps

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