Newcastle’s senior nursing midwifery and AHPs figures have talked of their pride in hosting a major Nursing, Midwifery and AHP Conference at St James’ Park this week.

Entitled “Empowering Every Voice” and kindly supported by Newcastle Hospitals Charity the event was a huge success offering the perfect opportunity to showcase exceptional examples of professional practice, innovation and leadership whilst recognising the dedication of the entire NMAHPs workforce.

Executive director of nursing Ian Joy opened the event, he said “I am humbled each and every day by the dedication, tenacity, professionalism and innovation displayed by colleagues across the Trust who are not just passionate about ensuring the highest possible standard and quality of care for our patients, their families and loved ones but also want to be at the cutting edge of professional development and innovation.

“So I am especially delighted to be able to bring our professions together on this day, giving us the opportunity to recognise and celebrate the unique contribution we make individually and collectively as well as being able to stop, to learn, to build new connections with colleagues we may not know and share our knowledge and achievements widely. It’s been fantastic.”

Award winners

A key highlight during the conference was the presentation of the Nursing, Midwifery and AHP Awards celebrating the inspirational achievements of individuals and teams who excel in all that they do

Anna Stabler, one of our non-executive directors who has worked in the NHS for nearly 40 years, spending a number of those in midwifery in Newcastle, presented the awards. Of the occasion she said “The calibre of nominations was truly exemplary making it an extremely difficult task amongst so many clear leaders and rising stars. However, after much deliberation we eventually selected our winners and it was a huge pleasure to be able to present the awards.”

Innovation Award

Recognising where individuals have sought to learn, create and apply new knowledge through innovative, transformational projects with demonstratable improvements in patient care, service delivery and/or staff experience.

Our Innovation Award winners were Alison Davison and Carolyn Thomas, Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapists who together with their team have treated patients with severe dysphagia, achieving a 72% success rate in reintroducing oral intake after six 10-minute sessions.

Runners up were midwife Clare Toyne who created ‘labour room lights’ boxes for intrapartum care, which have been enthusiastically received by both women and staff.

Also the Theatre Improvement Team who addressed inefficiencies in emergency theatres which were having a negative impact on patient experience, staff morale and resource use, by creating a standard operating procedure (SOP) to clarify roles and improve satisfaction.

Care and Compassion for Patients Award

For an individual who takes huge pride in all that they do, consistently going above and beyond for their patients whilst demonstrating outstanding levels of compassion with a key focus on ensuring the delivery of safe, high quality, and patient-centred care every single day.

The Care and Compassion for Patients Award went to Nikkala Ross, a staff nurse on Ward 48 at the RVI. Her nomination highlighted how Nikkala embodies the true spirit of nursing and wholeheartedly adopting the Trust’s vision and values, making patients feel seen, heard, and genuinely cared for, showing kindness, empathy, and clinical excellence.

**Nikkala Ross, staff nurse on Ward 48 at the RVI**.

Runners up were Jennie Bailey, Day Unit Physiotherapy team lead whose nomination said “Every single patient encounter is above and beyond what is expected, providing wonderfully holistic care to Newcastle’s frailest patients”, and Raya Vinogradov, Research Sonographer who is described as an inspiring researcher, leader, and skilled radiographer sonographer – pivotal in the clinical research team, offering pregnant women the chance to participate in research. Her commitment to patient-centred care and innovation drives evidence-based practices in obstetric midwifery.

Care and Compassion for Teams Award

For an individual who creates positive, nurturing environments and takes a compassionate approach to ensure their colleagues can reach their full potential, focusing on their individual and collective strengths to build a proud, influential and high performing team.

The Care and Compassion for Teams Award went to Pamela Davis, Practice Support Midwife who is described as ‘embodying the true spirit of midwifery’, going above and beyond every day, especially supporting newly qualified midwives helping them to gain confidence in skills such as cannulation, IV medications, and perineal suturing.

**Pamela Davies, Practice Support Midwife**

Runners up were the Evening and Night District Nursing Service Often seen as the ‘Cinderella’ service the team’s nomination cited the nurses as ‘angels’, doing an amazing job within the city regularly check in, offering outstanding support and understanding.

Also Victoria Anderson, a Lung Cancer Nurse Specialist was also nominated for her dedication making everyone feel valued whilst fostering innovation. “She stands out as the most caring and compassionate leader in my 17-year nursing career.”

Collaboration Award

Recognising influential partnership working which had improved or transformed a service with clear benefits for patients.

The winner of the Collaboration Award was Sarah Cartner a Specialist Health Visitor who has shown tenacity and commitment towards led various projects to improve babies’ lives and ensure they have a voice. She coordinated Newcastle’s Infant Mental Health Strategy (2024-2029), collaborating with professionals across sectors; led a pilot to support fathers and male carers; and organised the city’s 1001 days conference and baby events week, showcasing her leadership and passion for advocating for babies and promoting family relationships.

**Sarah Cartner, Specialist Health Visitor**

Runners up were Karen Christie, Julie Hopper and Rachel Orwin – Clinical Educator and Practice Placement Facilitators who designed and delivered bespoke 4-week cancer placements for third-year student nurses collaborating with Northumbria University, Cancer CNS teams, specialty services, the Northern Cancer Alliance, Macmillan, Maggie’s Centre, and the Marie Curie Hospice.

Also the Accrediting Clinical Excellence (ACE) Team (funded by NHC) who worked in collaboration with various teams and experts to rapidly develop and finalise a comprehensive programme of standards and robust scoring mechanism, to successfully onboard 34 clinical areas whilst developing standards for others – all since October 2024.

Executive Director of Nursing Award

This special award recognises an individual who has gone way above and beyond what is expected of them in their day-to-day role making a real difference either for patients, their colleagues or both and is chosen by our Executive Director of Nursing Ian Joy.

This year’s inspirational winner is Clare Ridley – a sister on Ward 23 at the RVI.

**Clare Ridley, Sister, Ward 23 at the RVI**

Keynote speakers

As the title of our 2025 Conference was “Empowering Every Voice” we were delighted to welcome two very special keynote speakers whose powerful talks were engaging and thought-provoking:

Joe Farmer, joining us from Civility Saves Lives – a collaboration of healthcare professionals from across the UK aiming to raise awareness of the power of civility in patient care and the impacts of incivility on teamwork and patient outcomes

Steve Head, internationally renowned Inspirational Speaker, Trainer and Coach with over 18 years’ experience sharing practical steps that healthcare professionals can take so that they can continue to deliver world class health care and celebrate successes whilst coping with the everchanging, high pressure NHS environment

We invited colleagues from our entire NMAHP workforce to share shining examples of service improvements, innovations, research and good practice by delivering presentations during multiple concurrent sessions.

And we were inundated with posters demonstrating a diverse range of impactful quality improvements, innovations, research and shining examples of good practice which were on show throughout the day for colleagues to view and digest.