Lancing nurse wins national WellChild Award

Hannah will collect her award at a ceremony in London on Thursday 7 September. The Awards, in association with GSK, are run by WellChild, the national charity for seriously ill children, and will be attended by the charity’s Patron, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex.

Hannah, who is a ventilation nurse specialist at Chestnut Tree House children's hospice near Arundel, was picked from hundreds of nominations from across the UK to win the category of Best Nurse in these Awards which celebrate the resilience of children and young people living with serious illnesses or complex medical needs and honour the dedication of those individuals who go the extra mile to help them.

Hannah was nominated by Laura McLoughlin, mother to Lennon who was nursed by Hannah. 11 years ago, Laura's son, Lennon was born with multiple complex needs. Laura first came across Hannah at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Brighton. At that time, Hannah helped Laura prepare for Lennon returning home with support after staying nearly three years in hospital.

A few years later, Laura was delighted to come across Hannah again, this time at Chestnut Tree House children's hospice, where she’d moved to work as a nurse. In both settings, Laura found Hannah’s ‘can-do’ attitude, empathy, and reassurance invaluable, particularly at the most challenging times.

When Lennon died, Laura couldn’t have been more grateful that Hannah was with them in those final, precious moments. Laura tells of each of them holding one of Lennon’s hands, and says that Hannah’s calm and respectful manner gave her strength and an important sense of privacy.

Laura is delighted that through the WellChild Award she can begin to show Hannah how amazing she is. She said:

“Hannah is an angel on earth and my son’s life was blessed to have her in it. She made the toughest journey of my life seem like there was always light and there was someone I trusted standing alongside and fighting for us.”

WellChild chief executive, Matt James said: “The number of children and young people in the UK living with long term, complex medical needs is growing. The WellChild Awards 2023, in association with GSK, will be a unique opportunity to recognise the immense challenges they have faced and to celebrate their remarkable positivity, resilience and spirit, which is an inspiration to us all. It will also help us to shine a light on the dedication of those around them, from siblings and parent carers to the professionals who have gone above and beyond to give them the very best chance to thrive in life.”

Anna Jones, director of children’s services at Chestnut Tree House said: “We’re so proud of Hannah for this award and I’m sure that all the children and families will be too.

“We’re seeing such a high level of clinical complexity at the hospice and, as our ventilation nurse specialist, Hannah has been instrumental in us being able to meet the needs of those children – working hard to skill up the rest of the team and supporting families so that they can access the care and support they need to help them live with a ventilator.

“On behalf of everyone at Chestnut, congratulations Hannah!”

Find out more about Chestnut Tree House here or read Hannah's blog about caring for ventilated children.