Strathcarron Hospice nurse recognised at national awards ceremony

Margaret Anne Garner won the Chronic Oedema Nurse of the Year category at a special awards ceremony in London last week.

The BJN Awards celebrate the hard work and dedication of nursing teams and colleagues across the UK and acknowledge their impact on patients’ lives.

Margaret Anne is a lymphoedema specialist at the Fankerton hospice, where along with her team she is constantly learning and sharing new research and practices for the benefit of local people who live with these conditions,

Strathcarron was the only Scottish organisation to make the shortlist for the category and the local hospice hosts the only specialist lipoedema and lymphoedema clinic in NHS Forth Valley.

Marjory Mackay, director of nursing at Strathcarron Hospice, said: “The service model that Margaret Anne and her team at Strathcarron deliver is aligned with the national outcomes for health and wellbeing and provides a vital and best practice service for people living with lymphoedema and lipoedema across our local communities. For Margaret Anne to win as an exceptional chronic oedema specialist and to be recognised by The British Journal of Nursing is wonderful.”

Lymphoedema is a chronic incurable condition that results in swelling due to a disruption of the lymphatic system. It can be caused by a variety of factors including cancer, cancer treatments, trauma, injury or genetic causes.

The NHS Forth Valley lymphoedema service in Strathcarron Hospice provides treatment, support and advice to anyone living with lymphoedema or lipoedema and their families and to health professionals.