THREE nurses working for a mental health trust in Essex spent the afternoon with King Charles on his birthday to celebrate the work of nurses and midwives in the NHS.
The event was held at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday marking King Charles III’s 75th birthday and ongoing celebrations of the NHS’ 75th birthday.
Prince Adoe, Moriam Adekunle and Alpa Day were among 400 nurses and midwives at the reception.
Prince works on Gosfield Ward, at The Lakes Mental Health Unit in Colchester, Moriam is director of safety and patient safety specialist, and Alpa is team leader for Integrated Sexual Health Services in south Essex.
Both Prince and Moriam won awards at Zenith Health’s Global Health Awards 2023.
Prince won the Rising Star Excellence in Nursing Accolade and Moriam, who is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner and Florence Nightingale Scholar with more than 27 years' experience, received a Special Recognition Award.
Prince said: “Receiving the invitation from The King left me feeling deeply honoured and in awe.
“Spending the day with dedicated nurses and midwives, all committed to delivering exceptional care to our patients, was truly delightful.
“Collaborating and exchanging ideas made it an even more rewarding experience.”
Moriam said: “Being a part of the celebration for His Majesty The King's 75th birthday at Buckingham Palace was an incredibly personal and profound honour for me.
"It not only highlighted the global acknowledgment of the vital work done by nurses and midwives but also touched my heart deeply.
"This extraordinary experience has personally reinforced, in a powerful way, the significance of recognising the invaluable contributions of my fellow colleagues in the NHS and beyond.
"It's a heartfelt reminder of the passion and dedication we bring to our roles, shaping the healthcare with our individual stories of compassion and commitment."
Alpa said: "I felt so honoured and humbled to be a part of it and nominated but to actually be selected to shake His Majesty’s hand and I think I took him by surprise by actually wishing him 'Happy Birthday'.
"He was so lovely and asked me where I worked and what I did.
“I have always been so proud to work for the NHS and be a nurse but yesterday, I couldn’t be anymore prouder to represent nurses, my work colleagues as I am so proud of them too, the NHS, and the Trust that I work for.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here