A Sandwell nurse whose innovations have transformed care for some of the most vulnerable patients in the community has received a prestigious national nursing award. Amy, YHP (Your Health Partnership) Lead Housebound Practice Nurse and Dementia Care Lead at Regis Medical Centre, has received the NHS England Chief Nursing Officer Silver Award for Outstanding Service to Nursing.
The award recognises Amy’s leadership, innovation and commitment to improving care, particularly for people living with dementia, housebound patients and residents of care homes.
A qualified nurse for more than 16 years, Amy began her career with Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust (SWB) as a student nurse in 2007 before moving into general practice at YHP.
Throughout her career, she has focused on ensuring that patients receive high-quality, personalised care regardless of where they live or the challenges they face in accessing conventional health services.
Among Amy’s achievements has been pioneering work to improve dementia care in primary care. Working with colleagues, she helped develop a memory assessment pathway which provided patients and their families with continuity from pre-diagnosis, through diagnosis and ongoing support. Amy also built partnerships with voluntary organisations including Agewell and Better Understanding of Dementia (BUDS), helping patients and families access practical advice and peer support close to home.
More recently, Amy has led improvements to planned care for housebound patients, ensuring people unable to attend a GP surgery can receive comprehensive long-term condition reviews and diagnostic tests in their own homes. She has also championed the use of continuous glucose monitoring for care home residents with diabetes who use insulin. Eight of 13 aligned care homes are now set up to share FreeStyle Libre glucose monitoring information remotely with the practice nursing team, supporting better clinical decision-making while reducing the need for painful finger-prick testing.
Amy is also working alongside District Nurse Matron Louise Johnson on a Trust project contributing to the national CADNIP diabetes programme. Early work has demonstrated improvements in diabetes treatment plans, reductions in hypoglycaemic events and, where clinically appropriate, reductions in insulin requirements and district nursing visits. Her determination to put individuals at the centre of their care has also helped a resident with learning disabilities gain greater independence. By working with the resident and supported living staff on diabetes and insulin training, Amy helped her progress to administering her own insulin under supervision, enabling her to take part in holidays and activities which had previously been difficult because of her reliance on district nursing visits.
Reflecting on receiving the award, Amy said: “When I heard I had received the award, I couldn’t believe it. I felt really overwhelmed. Nursing has always been a privilege to me. We don’t do it for awards, we do it to provide the best possible care and support for our patients and to improve the services they receive. I am incredibly honoured to receive this level of recognition, and it has been a very proud moment. For me, the biggest achievement will always be keeping the patient at the heart of everything we do.”
Amy said the award also reflected the contribution of colleagues across YHP and community services. She added: “I am very lucky to work in such an amazing, forward-thinking nursing team. Our Head of Nursing, Davinia George, invests so much time and energy in developing our nursing team and giving us opportunities to be the very best we can be. Our nurses, healthcare assistants, GPs and housebound booking team have all played a part in making these improvements possible.
“This award may have my name on it, but improving care is absolutely a team effort. I’m looking forward to continuing that work and finding more opportunities to work across teams to make care better for our patients.”
Dr Simon Mitchell YHP Co-Executive Partner commented: “Amy is an outstanding primary care nurse who has shown amazing resilience and perseverance to change services for patients living in the community with long term conditions. Her work with diabetic patients in care homes is improving patient quality of life, reducing workload for community staff and impacting on admissions.”
Nicky Taylor, Director of Nursing for SWB NHS Trust added: “Amy is an outstanding example of what nursing leadership looks like. She sees where care can be better and then brings people together to make that improvement happen. What stands out is that every innovation Amy has championed begins with the needs of an individual patient. Whether that means helping somebody living with dementia navigate their diagnosis, bringing long-term condition care into a housebound patient’s home or giving someone greater independence in managing their diabetes, she continually asks how we can provide better, more personalised care. We are incredibly proud that her contribution has been recognised with this national award.”