by
Kirstie Flack
| May 18, 2018
Congratulations to Professor Barbara Wilson, Founder of the Oliver Zangwill Centre: finalist in prestigious NHS 70 Birthday Awards.
The NHS in the Midlands and East area has today (Friday 18 May) revealed that Professor Barbara Wilson OBE from Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust is one of 10 it has chosen as regional champions in a prestigious competition to mark the NHS’s 70
th birthday.
As a resident of Bury St Edmunds, Barbara Wilson was nominated by Jo Churchill MP in the Lifetime Achievement Award category for dedicating over 40 years of her life to brain injury rehabilitation.
Barbara is esteemed for her care for patients, building bridges between practice and theory, and team work between psychologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and brain injured people.
She is founder of the Oliver Zangwill Centre for Neuro-psychological Rehabilitation in Ely, founder and editor of an international journal Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, author of 26 books and several instruments for testing patients, including a memory test translated into sixteen languages. She is loved by students who appreciate her devotion and encouragement.
Now retired, Professor Wilson continues to influence present and future staff in the NHS and further afield promoting the core ideas of a holistic approach to neuropsychological rehabilitation.
Professor Wilson said “I am delighted to be shortlisted for the Lifetime Achievement Award category of the NHS70 Parliamentary Awards. Should I be successful in winning the award, it would be due recognition of neuropsychologists and all other professions working in brain injury rehabilitation for their essential work in assisting survivors of brain injury to lead purposeful lives.
“Being good at saving lives is admirable but we need to ensure the lives led by those saved are worthwhile and fulfilling. Such an outcome can also reduce the financial burden on statutory clinical services provided by the NHS, and lessen the stress on the lives of carers.”
Professor Wilson is representing the Midlands and East of England as they vie with other regional winners from across England for a national award to be presented at a special ceremony in the Palace of Westminster in July.
From almost 160 entries, senior experts have chosen 10 outstanding nominations, which exemplify the best of what the NHS and its partners do day in, day out.
All 10 of the champions will now be invited to the national awards ceremony, which will be held on 4 July 2018, the day before the NHS’s 70
th birthday. The ceremony will be hosted by Dr Sara Kayat, NHS GP & TV Doctor best known for This Morning, Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls and GPs: Behind Closed Doors.