Outstanding nurses and midwives honoured at annual awards

Nurses and midwives who have gone above and beyond for their patients and colleagues over the last year have been recognised at Guy’s and St Thomas’.

Now in its eighth year, the Trust’s annual Nursing and Midwifery Awards received almost 600 nominations across 26 categories.

Mercedes Miguel, who works in the community stroke team, was named Community Nurse of the Year. She was the first community stroke nurse to take up the role across Lambeth and Southwark and her excellent care has helped prevent hospital admissions. 

Mercedes has led the way with stroke education, medication management and is one of the leaders of a project on sex and intimacy awareness.

Midwife of the Year went to India Clemmit who has spent the last two years undertaking specialist roles in infectious diseases and screening within maternity. She represents the service and Trust at regional meetings to a very high standard, and is a speaking up champion with a strong voice in the equality and inclusion work across the service.

Jolanta Kwinta, a clinical nurse specialist at Harefield Hospital, was named Heart, Lung and Critical Care Nurse of the Year. Jolanta recognised that children of patients on the transplant waiting list were struggling to understand the journey that their parent was on. She produced a booklet and backpack for children so that they could better understand the process when their relative was called in for surgery. 

Team of the Year went to the Dermatology Day Centre at Guy’s Hospital after they piloted an initiative called Vital 5 to promote brief consistent messages around areas that can negatively impact a patient’s health including, blood pressure, mental health, weight, smoking and alcohol. The pilot was such a success that the programme is now being rolled out across south London in pharmacies, as well as primary and secondary care within King’s Health Partners.  

Evelina London Children’s Nurse of the Year went to Rachana Kalathiparambil who has been working tirelessly as one of the world’s first paediatric aortopathy clinical nurse specialists. Rachana cares for children with Marfan syndrome, a disorder of the body's connective tissues, and other life-threatening conditions that affect the aorta. She explains complex genetics in a simple age-appropriate way to children, and is up-to-date with cutting-edge genetics research. Read more about Rachana's work.

Dame Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer for England, presented the Rising Star of the Year Award to Adam Carter, a clinical nurse specialist in the Surgical Ambulatory Care Unit at St Thomas’ Hospital. Adam joined the Trust in 2019 as a newly qualified staff nurse and has quickly rose into a senior role. When performing procedures on patients he ensures they are at ease by chatting with them, and he is always approachable and supportive of other team members.

Avey Bhatia, Chief Nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “I am very proud of all our nurses and midwives, they are a real credit to our Trust. The annual awards are a great opportunity for us to celebrate their outstanding care, hard work and achievements.”

A huge congratulations to all of the award winners: