New Year's Honours: Sheffield NHS nursing bosses to receive Damehood and OBE

Professor Hilary Chapman, chief nurse at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, is to receive a Damehood while Kevin Clifford, chief nurse of the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group in Sheffield is to be awarded an OBE.

Professor Chapman is to be recognised for her 32 years as a qualified nurse after starting her illustrious career at the Northern General in 1985.

Prior to returning to Sheffield in 2006, she was chief nurse at Kettering General Hospital and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Trust.

In Sheffield, she leads the Trust's 6,500 nurses and midwives and regularly undertakes at least one clinical shift every month which she describes as being 'one of the most important and valuable things' she does.

Hilary said: “This is the most amazing honour and such a privilege, but I have only been able to achieve the things I have because I have worked with incredible teams throughout my career.

"I have been very fortunate to work with some of the best both locally and nationally.

Of course there are challenges but at the end of the day there is nothing more satisfying than knowing you have made a difference to someone who is often at their most vulnerable. Our nurses and midwives deserve our respect and appreciation for all that they do, day in and day out."

Kevin Clifford went from tea boy to top nurse at Sheffield CCG after starting his career back in the 1970s.

The son of a miner was the only male in his nursing class and was one of the many heroes of Hillsborough driving back to work after clocking off when the stadium disaster took full affect.

He became a charge nurse in 1987, working nights for a year before doing day shifts between 1988 and 1990.

In 1991, Kevin became a clinical nurse manager, responsible for overseeing six wards and later went on to become a nursing director and part of the newly-formed Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust executive team.

In 2010, Kevin joined the Sheffield Primary Care Trust as chief operating officer and became chief nurse for its successor organisation the Clinical Commissioning Group in 2012. His job involves ensuring that healthcare services commissioned to serve patients in the city are operating at the highest-possible standards.

Speaking in 2016, Kevin told The Star: “I had literally gone from being tea boy to being a director of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals,”