Former Sheffield Hospitals Senior Nurse honoured in King’s Birthday Honours

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Catherine Bailey, 61, who began her career as an intensive care unit nurse over 40 years ago, was nominated for her innovative and most recent work at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust where she developed a new programme of work called ‘Bug Busters’.

The project saw her bring together a 40 strong multi-disciplinary team of health professionals to make changes in practice which resulted in a fall in the rate of surgical site infections in patients undergoing hip replacements from 1.8 per cent to 0.3 per cent below the national average in 2019.

Her leadership and strategic direction led to a significant reduction in harmful falls in older patients on orthopaedic wards. She also developed a dashboard for other senior nurses to see information about their ward’s performance on a number of indicators such as how well they were preventing pressure ulcers in patients.

Catherine Bailey, a former senior nurse from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, has been awarded the British Empire Medal for services to nursing in the recently announced King’s Birthday Honours.

At the start of the COVID pandemic, with just two days’ notice, Catherine created a training programme used to train over 1,000 nurses in a month in preparation for managing patients with COVID-19. She was also the recipient of a ‘Gold’ Chief Nursing Officer award in 2021.

Commenting on her BEM Catherine said: “It was such a fabulous and humbling surprise.

"To be recognised for my contribution to nursing and the job which I loved and felt so passionate about means a great deal to me. I owe so much to Sheffield Teaching Hospitals for the support and opportunities especially the senior nursing team.

"I feel so very blessed and thankful not only to have worked alongside and been supported by such amazing colleagues at all levels within the nursing and wider health care teams but most of all to the patients I learnt so much from.”

Professor Chris Morley, Chief Nurse at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are so proud that Catherine has been recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours.

"Catherine held the highest standards of care in both clinical practice and leadership and always kept patients at the forefront of any conversation. This medal is richly deserved and a fantastic testament to her outstanding achievements and passion for nursing.”