Vicky Surrell, paediatric diabetes nurse, based at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Huntingdon has been awarded the Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust’s Shine a Light award.

Vicky was nominated by the Neil Hook, the father of one of her patient’s, William who was diagnosed, at the age of three, with Type 1 Diabetes.

He said: “Quite frankly Vicky is an amazing woman and a credit to the NHS as a whole. Vicky has been with us on the journey at every stage, from offering us comfort and solace on his diagnosis to holding multiple training sessions with his school so he could enjoy his first day on a level playing field with every other child, which is all anyone could ever wish for.

“As a Type 1 Diabetic of over 30 years I feel uniquely qualified to back up those claims. I was diagnosed at an almost identical age to my son (four) and have lived across most regions of the UK, relying on the NHS throughout, and can genuinely say across my 30+ years of living with the condition I have never come close to having the level of attention and care my son has had from Vicky.

“For that I will be forever grateful and proud that she is his specialist nurse and genuinely feel confident that my son will continue getting the highest standards of care and access to every opportunity to excel, because of that no Type 1 Diabetes parent can ever ask for more.”

The “Shine a Light” scheme allows members of the public to nominate staff who have delivered a fantastic service and made a real difference to their lives. Trust staff are also encouraged to nominate their colleagues.

On winning the award Vicky said: “I was surprised and delighted to be nominated as this month’s shine a light winner. 

“As a diabetes team we realise how hard it must be for parents to hand over their very young children with quite complex health needs to school staff.  We try to do everything possible to make this as smooth as possible for the child and the family and also the school staff who have to take on a lot of extra responsibilities and are often anxious. It is lovely that my efforts have been noted and appreciated in this way by parents.”

Every month a member of staff or a team are selected from a list of nominations as the “Shine a Light” award winner. If you would like to nominate a member of staff or a team who has gone the extra mile for you, you can nominate online at www.cambscommunityservices.nhs.uk


Photo: Amy (mum) and William Hook, Vicky Surrell and Matthew Winn, Chief Executive