Sheffield Teaching Hospitals nurse and nursing teams recognised with quadruple Nursing Times nominations
26 July 2024
Staff from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are celebrating a quadruple nomination in the Nursing Times Awards, including a hat-trick for a team supporting cancer survivors in the years after treatment and a celebrated Nurse of the Year nomination for advanced nurse practitioner Cathy Harrison.
Cathy Harrison, who has probably cared for over 1,000 different patients with bleeding and blood clotting disorders, including at least three generations in some families, has been named a finalist in the Nurse of the Year category.
A pioneering nurse-led Late Effects screening service, led by Professor Diana Greenfield, providing holistic care for patients living with and beyond cancer is a three-times nominee in the prestigious Team of the Year, HRH The Prince of Wales Award for Integrated Approaches to Care and the Ingrid Fuchs Cancer Nursing Award categories.
The Nursing Times Awards showcase the outstanding contribution of individuals and nursing teams across the country.
Advocating for patients with bleeding disorders
Cathy, whose nursing career spans 19 years, has dedicated her career to advocating and caring for patients living with rare blood clotting and bleeding disorders. This includes patients with haemophilia, von Willebrand’s disease, inherited platelet disorders and other complex blood disorders.
As a specialist regional centre for the treatment and management of thrombotic thrombocytopenia purpura (TTP), she also provides specialist nursing care and management to patients with the rare, life-threatening blood disorder at the Sheffield Haemophilia and Haemostasis Disorders Centre.
Described by her peers as an “exceptional role model”, Cathy has worked at local, national and international level to improve services for people with bleeding disorders. Key contributions include running national training programmes, advising on the development of national frameworks for treatments, organising patient events, and working with patient organisations to ensure patient voices are heard.
She also instigated a national evaluation of the role of the haemophilia clinical nurse specialist as vice chair of the UK Haemophilia Nurses Association, co-developed resources for a treatment room at the World Federation of Haemophilia Congress, and is chair of the World Federation of Haemophilia Nursing Committee.
Leading the way with cancer survivorship services
Originally established in 2009, the nurse-led Late Effects screening service has been singled out for praise in three top categories at the awards. The service has developed a novel anticipatory approach to the care of patients living with the ongoing physical, emotional and psychological effects of modern cancer treatments in the months and years after treatment.
The service, which has played a leading role in reducing mortality and minimising ill health that can occur in the months and years after cancer treatment, has recently expanded to provide support for survivors of haematological stem cell transplants, immunotherapy, pelvic radiation disease and myeloma.
The recent establishment of a new immunotherapy Late Effects Clinic, led by Dr Joanne Bird, has also led to earlier identification of immunotherapy treatment consequences to aid quicker interventions.
The service brings together a multiprofessional team of nurses, doctors and other health professionals from different hospitals and departments.
Professor Christopher Morley, Chief Nurse for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are incredibly proud of all our nurses and nursing teams, so I am delighted that we have received four nominations in the upcoming Nursing Times Awards. Great nurses anticipate and manage their patients’ needs. These qualities are strongly demonstrated in the innovative work of the Sheffield nurse-led Late Effects screening service, led by Professor Diana Greenfield and Dr Joanne Bird, which continues to break new ground, and Cathy’s tireless dedication to the blood and bleeding disorders community that she has passionately served within the hospital setting and beyond.”
The winners of the Nursing Times Awards will be announced at a special awards ceremony in October.
ENDS
Photos: Professor Diana Greenfield (2nd from left, main picture) and Dr Joanne Bird (2nd from right, main picture) and the Late Effects team (main picture and bottom left and bottom right) and Cathy Harrison (bottom centre)
