Nursing teams from South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust have been recognised for their outstanding dedication to patient care, celebrating a double success at the prestigious Nursing Times Awards 2026.
The national recognition highlights the hard work, compassion and commitment of NHS staff who make a positive difference to patients and their families across South Tyneside and Sunderland every day.
The Trust's Shared Wound Care initiative won the Sustainability in Nursing and Midwifery category.
At the same event, its Cancer Personalised Care Team won the Ingrid Fuchs Cancer Nursing Award for its work.
The Shared Wound Care programme was praised by judges for delivering improvements for patients while creating a more sustainable and resilient service. They also highlighted how the programme is focused on prevention, quality and safety.
They added:
“This is an excellent and novel nurse-led innovation it was inspiring to see a change initiative that looks inwards before outsourcing.
“The cancer team was recognised for its project, Nothing About Us Without Us: Co-producing a New Model of Care for People Living with Cancer.
“The initiative has transformed support for people affected by cancer by putting patients and carers at the heart of service design.
“Developed with support from Macmillan Cancer Support, it is built on the principle that people with lived experience should have an equal voice in shaping care.”
The programme has focused on tackling health inequalities and improving access to support for people affected by deprivation and cultural barriers. It has also helped improve support for people living with treatable but not curable cancer through earlier intervention, better communication and more coordinated care.
Judges noted the project gives “a voice to those too often unheard” and was a “deserving winner, not only for its innovation, but for its heart”.
Melanie Robertson, Deputy Director of Nursing and Allied Health Professionals at the Trust, said:
“We are thrilled to have received two awards at the Nursing Times Awards.
"These awards are a tremendous achievement and reflect the passion, innovation and dedication of our nursing teams.
"Both projects demonstrate the power of listening to patients and working in partnership.
"To receive recognition at a national level in two highly competitive categories is something everyone involved should be incredibly proud of."
The Nursing Times Awards recognise excellence across the nursing profession, celebrating individuals and teams who are improving patient care through innovation, leadership and practice.
