Ballymena nurse is RCN NI Nurse of the Year

CLAIRE Galloway from Ballymena is celebrating after winning the RCN Northern Ireland Nurse of the Year Award 2012.

Organised by the Royal College of Nursing, this is the sixteenth year of the awards, which took place at the Culloden Hotel, Holywood, on Thursday night.

Claire, who is clinical lead nurse for sexual health with the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, fought off competition from five other finalists to receive the award for transforming and modernising the trust’s sexual health service, improving its performance, and increasing patients’ access to it. She was presented with the accolade by Health Minister Edwin Poots.

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Faced with limited resources and demand exceeding capacity, Claire recognised that it was unacceptable for patients to be given appointments weeks in advance, so she introduced and delivered nurse-led clinics every morning on-site at Causeway Hospital. Clinic systems were changed to include walk-in clinics, which increased capacity and provided an easily accessible, responsive service for patients.

This service was the first in Northern Ireland to achieve the 48-hour access targets for all such referrals.

Claire has also developed The Clinic, an innovative partnership with the Northern Regional College, to promote sexual health to young people and provide advice, treatment and testing on campus.

The judging panel for the award praised Claire for “going where others don’t want to go” and considered her project to be “a service improvement of major significance that promotes higher standards of care for patients”.

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Runner-up on the evening was Mabel McFall, from Portglenone, who is a peripatetic ward manager with the day surgery unit in the Northern Health and Social Care Trust.

Mabel has been nominated for showing outstanding leadership and innovation following the reform of acute services in the trust. She introduced a theatre service working across two different sites, at Antrim Area and Whiteabbey hospitals.

The judging panel was impressed by Mabel’s persistence, patient focus and team approach, underpinned by a commitment to safe and effective care.

Commenting on the Awards, RCN Northern Ireland Director Janice Smyth said: “Sexual infections in Northern Ireland have risen dramatically over the past few years, particularly amongst young people. Through her vision and ambition to drive forward change, Claire has turned around a service that now meets the needs of the people who use it.

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“Despite continuing challenges and increased pressure on the health service, I am extremely encouraged by the excellence and innovation shown by nurses from across Northern Ireland, who are committed to improving services and care for patients.

“These awards demonstrate how nurses are in the perfect position to identify the need for change in hospitals and the community to bring about a more efficient and better service for the people of Northern Ireland.”