Physiotherapist wins nursing conference award
23 October 2019
Black History Month (October) got off to an award-winning start for Consultant Physiotherapist, Dr Billy Fashanu who won a Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Award at a Valuing Overseas Nurses conference on 4 October 2019.
Billy who has been working in the Trust for 24 years said: "As I
am not a nurse, I reluctantly accepted this award on behalf of all
the hard-working nurses of BAME background at Southend Hospital.
This award really is for everybody. And it's a great honour to work
with my nursing colleagues every day. It makes such a big
difference to staff morale when the hard-work and various
contributions that BAME staff makes in the NHS, are recognised by
institutions like the Royal College of Nursing".
The Valuing Overseas Nurses conference was a celebratory event
with speakers from several hospitals in the eastern region.
Southend Hospital nurses were represented by Simi Ncube (Practice
Development Nurse and co-chair of BAME), Bernard Hadebe (Research
and Development Nurse Lead), and Denise Townsend (Director of
Nursing). They were accompanied by Louise McIver, Equality,
Diversity and Inclusion Lead (MSE & Southend), Dele Kadiri HR
Operations MSE & Southend) and Billy Fashanu (Consultant
Physiotherapist & Co-chair BAME).
Billy was also a runner up in this year's Southend Hospital
Heroes Award in the Care with Compassion category which was also
held earlier this month.
Denise Townsend, Director of Nursing at Southend Hospital
nominated Billy for the RCN Award which recognises Black Asian
Minority Ethnic (BAME) staff who have made significant
contributions to the health service. Billy is an active and key
member of the BAME Network at Southend Hospital and has made
significant contributions to the group. The event was held at Kings
House, Bedford.