Two rare diseases specialists honoured with Queen’s Nurse title

Two specialist nurses in the Rare Diseases Centre at Guy’s and St Thomas’ have been given the prestigious title of Queen’s Nurse from the Queen’s Nursing Institute.

Nurse Practitioners Phillipa Sellar and Paula Sullivan work with patients and families of people who have the rare conditions Bloom Syndrome, Trichothiodystrophy (TTD) and Cockayne Syndrome. Alongside hospital-based clinics they travel across the UK to the homes of patients and their families, providing them with holistic care.

The Queen’s Nurse title acknowledges individual nurses who have demonstrated a high level of commitment to patient care and nursing practice, particularly showing innovative care and a vision for nursing in the community.

Paula said: “We are honoured to be Queen’s Nurses. We will have an opportunity to develop a nationwide network of colleagues, share and gain knowledge and influence practice, to the benefit of our patients.

“One of the best things about our role is visiting patients and their families in their own homes, developing relationships and building trust, which provides the platform for delivering personalised care.”

Phillipa added: “This will give us an opportunity to raise awareness and educate on the very rare conditions we specialise in, therefore benefitting our patients as more healthcare professionals acquire a better understanding of their condition.

“This title is testament to all our patients and families. I have been a nurse for 40 years, and I’m very proud of it. Let’s celebrate nursing, its values and all the incredible work nurses do.”

Dr Shehla Mohammed, consultant in paediatric clinical genetics at Guy’s and St Thomas’, clinical lead for National CS/TTD Highly Specialist Service, and joint national lead for Blooms RDCN, said: “I am exceptionally proud of Paula and Phillipa’s achievements. It is a richly deserved accolade for the exemplary work they do with the many patients we see with life-limiting conditions as part of the Highly Specialist National DNA repair service (CS/TTD/Blooms RDCN) from the Rare Diseases Centre.

“This is an important achievement which recognises their exceptional skills, knowledge and expertise, and the significant role nurses of their calibre play in innovative service developments to improve co-ordinated patient care for those with rare and ultra-rare diseases.”

More information about the Queen’s Nurse title is on the Queen’s Nursing Institute website.