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Nurses named in New Year’s Honours: we’re proud, privileged and humbled

Nurses from diverse settings and specialties honoured for services to the profession
collage of faces of some of the nurses named in the new year's honours list

Nurses from diverse settings and specialties honoured for services to the profession


Just some of the nurses named in this year’s New Year’s Honours

Dozens of UK nurses have been recognised in the New Year's Honours for their services to the profession.

Nurses in mental health, children's and military nursing are among those honoured in a list that heralds the start of 2020, the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife.


Anna Morgan MBE

Anna Morgan, director of nursing and quality, Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust, is made an MBE for services to nursing.

She said she wanted to recognise colleagues in health and social care who had inspired her throughout her career.

'What I hope this award will do is to help raise the profile of nursing and inspire others to embark on a fantastic career in health and care,' she said.

'It is truly fantastic that I am receiving this award to coincide with the start the year of the nurse and midwife, a year-long celebration of nurses and in honour of Florence Nightingale.'


Kim O'Keeffe BEM

Kim O'Keeffe, director of nursing, midwifery and allied health professions at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) is awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to nursing.

Ms O'Keeffe's career began in Durban, South Africa in the early 1980s as a dual-registered general and mental health nurse.

During her time in South Africa she brought together the first post-apartheid nursing and medical team of clinicians from diverse backgrounds – and on a ward where patients would no longer be segregated along racial lines. 

'This was one of the most rewarding and most challenging things I have ever done,' she said.

In 1999, Ms O'Keeffe returned to her native UK with her young family and after gaining experience in a range of specialties, moved to Cornwall and took up the post of chief nurse for surgery with RCHT. 

She later became deputy director of nursing and was appointed to the trust’s board as a director in 2017.


Manjit Darby MBE

She told Nursing Standard: 'If you had told me as a student nurse back in 1981 that I would have had the career I have had and be recognised in this way I wouldn't have believed it.

'I feel so proud and at the same time so humbled. It shows the world is your oyster in nursing.'

Manjit Darby, director of nursing leadership and quality for NHS England and NHS Improvement in the Midlands, is made an MBE for services to nursing and patient care.

She said:  'As a British Asian woman, I am particularly proud to have been part of the amazing contribution made by black and minority ethnic nurses in the NHS to the care, protection and support of the most vulnerable people in society.'


Yvonne Millard MBE

Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust deputy chief nurse Yvonne Millard is made an MBE for services to children's nursing.

In a statement, her employer called her a 'true champion of nursing' who is always on hand to support the next generation.

In the early 2000s, she headed a nurse-led discharge programme designed to reduce length of hospital stays, where possible. 

She played a key role in the Children’s Hospital becoming, in 2017, the first of its kind to be judged ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), a rating it retained this year.

She said: 'I have the absolute honour of caring for children, young people and families every day, often at a very difficult time for them.

'I cannot think of a more rewarding way to spend my days.'


 Karen James OBE

Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust chief executive, Karen James, a nurse by background, is awarded the OBE for services to the NHS.

Six years ago she was asked by then heath secretary Jeremy Hunt to lead the trust after the CQC found it to be failing. The commission now rates the organisation as 'good'.

She said she was 'surprised and humbled' to receive recognition for doing a job she loves.

'I know I share this award with all my wonderful trust colleagues who work tirelessly every day to treat and care for our patients and their families and carers. I am privileged to have such a dedicated team and very supportive local partners.'

Carolyn Fox chief nurse, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, is awarded the OBE for services to nursing. 

She said: 'I am honoured to receive an OBE and I couldn’t be more delighted that it comes as we head into 2020 – the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife – which will celebrate and promote the amazing contribution made every day by nurses and midwives across the globe.

'Creating and leading a culture where nurses and midwives feel valued and inspired to deliver excellent standards of care for patients, is a lifelong passion for me.'

RCN general secretary Dame Donna Kinnair said: ‘The extraordinary breadth and depth of the work done by the nurses honoured is striking – they are not just in hospital and community services, but in public heath, our armed forces and charities, and in specialist areas.’

NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens receives a knighthood.

Nurses on the New Year’s Honours list

OBE


Carolyn Fox

  • Debra Adams Assistant director of infection prevention and control Midlands and East, NHS England and NHS Improvement. For services to infection prevention and nursing.
  • Carolyn Fox Chief nurse, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. For services to nursing. 
  • Karen Ruth James Chief executive Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust. For services to the NHS.
  • Birte Harlev-Lam Formerly clinical director maternity and children, NHS Improvement. For services to maternity and young people's care. 

MBE 

  • Paulette Bolton Advanced nurse practitioner Enki Medical Practice, Birmingham. For services to patient care. 
  • Joanne Cable Nurse team manager, Hereford Garrison. For services to military personnel and families. 
  • Manjit Darby Director of nursing leadership and quality. Midlands NHS England and NHS Improvement. For services to nursing and to patient Care. 
  • Elizabeth Evans Formerly stoma nurse University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust. For services to nursing. 
  • Ann Marie Ford Formerly head of hospital inspections, Care Quality Commission. For services to patient safety. 
  • Lynne Garwood Nurse consultant Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board. For services to mental healthcare and to nursing in Wales.
  • Jean Holder For services to nursing, particularly in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology. 
  • Angela Horsley Head of children young people and transition, NHS England and NHS Improvement. For services to children's healthcare in the NHS. 
  • Yvonne Millard Deputy chief nurse, Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust. For services to children's nursing. 
  • Anna Morgan Director of nursing and quality. Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust. For services to Nursing.
  • Michelle Proudman Lead nurse for community health in North Manchester, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. For services to community nursing. 
  • Jennifer Rodgers Chief nurse children, neonates and young people, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. For services to healthcare. 


Catherine Ryan

  • Catherine Ryan Community matron Sole Bay Health Centre and founder, Sole Bay Care Fund. For services to nursing and to fundraising in Suffolk. 


Martin Semple

  • Martin Semple Nursing officer patient experience chief nursing office, Welsh Government. For services to nursing.
  • Sandra Taylor Lead ophthalmic research nurse Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust. For services to nursing and to eye research. 
  • Gina Tiller Formerly chair North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust. For services to healthcare in Cumbria.

BEM


Liz Alderton 

  • Elizabeth Alderton Community nurse team Lead and Queen's Nurse North East London NHS Foundation Trust. For services to nursing. 
  • Sara Goode Lead nurse for emergency planning Aneurin Bevan University Health Board. For services to emergency planning in Wales. 
  • Sabila Johnson Ward manager Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. For services to nursing.
  • Winifred Lane Senior nurse tutor and nurse lecturer Gibraltar Health Authority and school of health studies, Gibraltar. For services to the Gibraltar Health Authority.
  • Kim O'Keeffe Director nursing, midwifery and allied health professions, Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust. For services to nursing.


Cdr Ian Kennedy

Royal Red Cross

  • Cdr Ian Christopher Kennedy Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service

Associate Royal Red Cross 

  • WO Class 2 Emma Jane Jolliffe Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps

 

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