Parliamentary award for Southampton nurse
A nurse from Southampton has been chosen as the regional winner in the Lifetime Achievement Award category of the NHS Parliamentary Awards.
Pamela Campbell, who works as Nurse Consultant for Homelessness and Health Inequalities at Solent NHS Trust, was nominated by Southampton Itchen MP Royston Smith for her hard work and dedication to nursing, particularly with her work helping some of the most vulnerable in society.
She will now be shortlisted and compete with other regional winners with a chance to win the national award at a ceremony on Wednesday 10 July 2019.
Pamela qualified as a Registered Nurse in 1979, before becoming a Nurse Practitioner in 2001 and then a Nurse Prescriber in 2002.
She became a founding member of the Homeless Healthcare Team, set up in July 1992 and is recognised as a national leader in the field of homelessness.
On being chosen as the regional winner, she said: “I am both touched and humbled to be the nomination for the NHS Parliamentary Awards for this region. It has been my privilege for the past 27 years to work with people experiencing the lack one of the most fundamental human rights - a home.
“I have come to realise that being an advocate for a truly marginalised group of people has brought me into contact with truly incredible people but also the hasher side of life. Standing up for something that is so right has prevented me falling for anything, to paraphrase an African proverb.”
Pamela has also been instrumental in the development of the Alcohol Day Detoxification Project, which won a Public Health Nursing Award in 2014, and the Breathing Space Project, enabling safe and supported discharge of homeless patients.
Most recently Pamela has been involved in the initial stages of healthcare to Syrian refugees who have been offered asylum in the UK and a peer advocacy project to help homeless people to engage better with health services.
Royston Smith MP, said: “Through Pamela’s work with the most vulnerable in society, she has helped countless numbers of people return to a stable healthy life. Southampton is truly grateful to this health champion and guardian.
“Given Pamela’s selfless contribution over the years, I did not hesitate to nominate her for the NHS Parliamentary Awards 2019. I am so proud that Pamela has been shortlisted to represent Southampton as a local champion for the South East, which is an appropriate recognition for the excellent work that she has done.”
Congratulating Pamela, Solent NHS Trust’s Chief Executive, Sue Harriman, said: “We are incredibly proud that Pamela has won this award. She is an incredible asset to Solent NHS Trust and she fully deserves this national recognition.
“I have nothing but admiration for her dedication to her role and what she has done to support homelessness and homeless people, not just in Southampton, but by sharing her expertise across the country.”