A nurse from East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust has been crowned a winner at a glittering awards ceremony in Westminster.
Pancreas specialist nurse Vicki Stevenson-Hornby won the Nursing and Midwifery category at the prestigious NHS Parliamentary Awards on Wednesday, 5 July – the NHS’s 75th birthday.
The Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital-based nurse was recognised for her passion in raising awareness of pancreatic cancer and the need for early diagnosis.
Vicki – known as 
‘Vicki Pancreas’ by colleagues owing to her passion for her work – even dyed her hair purple, the colour of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, for the ceremony to further raise awareness of the disease.
On her win, Vicki said: “I am absolutely delighted. I was thrilled to have even been shortlisted – this gives a huge profile and platform to pancreatic cancer which is so desperately needed.
“To actually go on to win against so many amazing nominees, I am absolutely delighted.”
Vicki has been instrumental in supporting the development of the Trust’s diagnostic pathway for pancreatic cancer, helping reduce the time patients wait between referral and confirmed diagnosis.
She was put forward for the Award by local MPs Sir Jake Berry, Nigel Evans, Antony Higginbotham and Andrew Stephenson.