A LOCAL nurse recently attended an awards ceremony in London to officially receive his prestigious title of Queen’s Nurse.
Alex Haydock, clinical nurse specialist at Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CWP) went to the Queen’s Nursing Institute’s Spring Awards Ceremony at the Grand Connaught Rooms, in Covent Garden, to celebrate with 125 other newly named Queen’s Nurses.
The new Queen’s Nurses received their badges and certificates in a presentation led by Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer in England.
Alex, who works for CWP’s 16-19 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), joins his wife who was named as a Queen’s Nurse last year.
His wife Deborah, is Faculty Coordinator for Academic Quality, in the Health and Social Care Faculty at Chester University and the joint honour makes them one of only two known husband and wife Queen’s Nurse couples in the country.
Alex’s QN title indicates a commitment to high standards of patient care and continually improving practice.
As one of only a handful of Queen’s Nurses working in adolescent mental health, he plans to use this role to highlight the importance of community mental health nursing in this field.
Alex said: “I began my nursing career in 1977 and undertook various training opportunities to enhance my practice.
“Joining the network of Queen’s Nurses gives me the opportunity to raise the profile of the 16-19 service, which I have been involved with since it began as a new concept in 2000.
“The QN title will enable me to share best practice, identify funding opportunities and take part in further training.”
Avril Devaney, director of nursing and patient therapies at CWP, said: “I am delighted that Alex has been given this title. On behalf of CWP I would like to extend my congratulations to him and look forward to seeing more nurses follow in his footsteps.
“He joins a number of others to achieve this distinguished award and it is testament to the dedication and commitment to high quality community care that we at CWP are passionate about.”
Dr Crystal Oldman, Chief Executive of the QNI said, “Congratulations are due to Alex for his success. Community nurses are expert professionals who make a vital contribution to patient health and wellbeing every day.
“Community nurses operate in an ever more challenging world and our role is to support them as effectively as we can. The Queen’s Nurse title is a key part of this and we would encourage other community nurses to apply.”
