Skip to main content

This site is best viewed with a modern browser. You appear to be using an old version of Internet Explorer.

A right Royal honour for two Trust staff

18/06/2019
This article is more than four years old.

Two members of staff from Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are among the 1,073 people honoured for their good work by Queen Elizabeth II as part of her birthday celebrations.

Senior Nursing Assistant Courtney Hughes has received the honour 'for services to older and to vulnerable people in Oxfordshire'.

Inspired by her great grandmother to help others, Courtney funded a charity called Secret Santa 365 in 2012 when she was only 12. In seven years, she has distributed more than 50,000 gifts, as well as essential items such as toiletries to people in need.

Ms Hughes said: "I can't believe how this has gone from something very small to being so big that the whole community is involved.

"Being on Her Majesty's honour list is really a great reward for me, and reassures me that I have made the right choice by pursuing my dream of making people happy at difficult time of their life."

Her passion to help others led her to work in the NHS for the Trust at the Women's Centre after having previously worked in Neuroscience Ambulatory assessment Unit and Sobell House at the Trust.

She is also up for a prestigious national award for the RCNi Healthcare Assistant of the Year, with results announced in July 2019.

Lead cancer nurse Karen Mitchell, who works at Churchill Hospital's Cancer Centre, has also been honoured by Her Majesty for services to cancer patients and to nursing.

Karen started at OUH in 1990 as a research nurse. She then became chemotherapy sister and moved into specialist cancer nursing in 2001.

As a cancer nurse, she helps patients adapt both physically and psychologically to their disease and treatment, whilst providing advice on managing symptoms.

In her current role as lead cancer nurse, she manages a team of specialist cancer nurses who work across the organisation and are committed to further improve the services for patients.

Ms Mitchell said: "I have no idea who nominated me but clearly would like to thank them. I was very surprised but absolutely delighted to receive the letter telling me that I was in Her Majesty's birthday honours list.

"I am in my 30th year of cancer nursing at OUH. Nursing at OUH has provided me with a varied career with many opportunities for development. During this time we have seen many improvements in the care for our patients, and I have been pleased and proud to be part of this."

Both Karen and Courtney will receive the British Empire Medal awarded by Her Majesty 'for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown'. They will be invited to a ceremony to celebrate all the people awarded in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

Sam Foster, Chief Nurse at Oxford University Hospitals, said: "Karen and Courtney represent our core values of delivering compassionate care. They really deserve the Queen's honour and we so are proud to have them in our nursing staff.

"Caring for others is not just a job for them. They care about the patient as a person, and they would go the extra mile to make them feel better physically as well as emotionally. That's what we mean for excellence in nursing. No doubt Karen and Courtney are a great example of excellence for us and, now, for the whole country."