Queen’s to present nursing award in honour of Lorna

Queen’s to present nursing award in honour of Lorna

19 April 2017

QUEEN’S University will next month present the first ever award to honour the memory of a former Downpatrick health professional.

Mrs Lorna Telford, who lost her brave battle with cancer in September 2014, was an assistant director with the South Eastern Health Trust and highly regarded by her peers in the field of safe and effective care.

Eight months after her passing aged just 49, the Trust launched a bi-annual award in Lorna’s name recognising care and compassion in nursing and midwifery, with the first Lorna Telford Care and Compassion Award presented by the Trust in 2015.

Now Queen’s University is to award the Lorna Telford Prize to the final year student in the School of Nursing and Midwifery with the ceremony due to take place on May 12 which is also International Nurse’s Day. 

The university prize of £100 will initially be presented annually for the next 10 years with the prize going to the student who produces the best 500-word article on a palliative care issue. The winner will be selected by a team of assessors drawn from the South Eastern Trust and academic staff at Queen’s.

The university prize was established in Lorna’s memory by her husband David, daughters Emma and Evie and the South Eastern Health Trust.

In addition to her unwavering dedication to her family, Lorna was committed to her professional life and was focused on ensuring excellent patient care within the South Eastern Trust where she was highly regarded.

Trust staff, who hold Lorna’s memory dear, value the impact and influence she made on individuals and the professions of nursing and midwifery throughout the organisation. They described Lorna as a role model for the professions and someone who had a relentless focus on compassionate patient care and pursuit of high quality standards.  

Lorna’s husband and daughters are delighted her contribution to patients and health service standards is being recognised by the South Eastern Trust and Queen’s University.

They say she was a committed health professional, putting patients at the centre of everything she did and are delighted Lorna’s memory lives on through these two awards. 

Mrs Telford was highly regarded and continually went the extra mile in her job, working hard to drive up patient standards and care, with her husband and daughters hoping the awards in her name will inspire the recipients to aspire to the high standards she set in her professional life.