North Devon acute oncology team wins top national award

The acute oncology team that supports local cancer patients at North Devon District Hospital has won a prestigious national award for nursing.

The team scooped the Nursing Times Team of the Year award at a ceremony at the Grovesnor Hotel in London.  

The Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (Royal Devon) acute oncology team is based in Barnstaple and supports all types of cancer patients who may experience complications from their disease, treatments or who are diagnosed with a new cancer as an inpatient.

In announcing the team as the winners, the awards judges said they were, “highly impressed by the passion and expertise of the team at the Royal Devon and the difference their work made to their patients’ journeys.”  

They added: “The team have innovated amazingly to allow nurses to develop their careers in the face of many challenges, while being inclusive, democratic and valuing the contributions of all their team members.”  

The judges were looking for entrants to prove high-quality healthcare is a team effort, often involving collaboration between a range of professions.

Teams had to show the benefits of their initiative to patient care and how the entire team contributed to its success. The North Devon team was among 12 shortlisted from NHS trusts and independent healthcare providers across the country. 

Beverley Allingham, director of nursing - northern services for the Royal Devon, said: “This is a tremendous achievement and pays tribute to the professionalism, dedication and excellent care that the team provides to our patients.

“It is inspiring to see that even under the challenging circumstances we are currently experiencing we have teams here working at the highest standards, very well done and congratulations to the acute oncology team.”