Our Lung Cancer Nurses receive national award
Lung cancer nurse specialists at Kettering General Hospital (KGH) have won a national award for the way they have cared for vulnerable patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Natalie Johnson, Laura Goodman, and Melissa Frost have been awarded a Cavell Star Award by the prestigious Cavell Nurses’ Trust.
The nurses were nominated for the award by KGH’s Lung Cancer Lead, Dr George Tsaknis, a Consultant in Respiratory Medicine, for their amazing dedication to patient care during the most difficult of times.
He said: “The COVID-19 pandemic brought huge challenges to cancer care, particularly because we are one of the few centres in England that have a Targeted Lung Health Checks Programme. meaning we have more suspected lung cancer cases every month and more patients per nurse to look after than other hospitals in the region.
“Despite this Natalie, Laura, and Melissa have demonstrated compassion, dedication and initiative, positively supporting their patients. They kept in close contact with nearly 100% of the patients and provided full support throughout their patient journey during the pandemic.”
Since the pandemic began the team has had 4,385 contacts with lung cancer patients, including 396 newly diagnosed lung cancer patients.
Nurses worked so hard during COVID
Our Lung Cancer Nurse Specialists have worked hard to look after their patients during the pandemic.
Natalie, Laura and Melissa, speaking together, said: “We were surprised, touched and proud to have won a Cavell Star Award for the things we have done as a team to support our patients.
“Throughout the pandemic we still managed to maintain very carefully managed face-to-face consultations with our patients because it is so important that we support them closely through their journey.
"We also increased the level of telephone support, helped patients to manage their symptoms, and provided emotional, psychological support and advice.”
Cavell Star Award organiser Paul Steiner said: “We were delighted to receive the nomination for the Lung Cancer Nurse Specialist team and were struck by the incredible efforts made by Natalie, Laura and Melissa to ensure the vital Lung Cancer Service at Kettering General Hospital continued through the incredibly difficult pandemic working conditions. They truly have gone above and beyond and this is what the Cavell Star Awards is here to celebrate. “
KGH’s Director of Nursing and Quality, Fiona Barnes, said: “I am delighted the lung cancer nurse specialist team has won this award and congratulate them all for the way in which they have supported their patients during the pandemic.
“They are amazing examples of our core value of providing compassionate care to patients and have gone above and beyond what we might be expected in order to do this during most difficult times.”
The nurses have gained qualifications in prescribing and non-medical radiology requesting which helps speed up the journey for lung cancer patients.
The team said they could not have achieved what we have without the support of a wider team including their administration support, divisional manager and the respiratory team for which they are very grateful.