Congratulations are in order for Kerry Barriffe, Senior Practice Development Practitioner at NELFT, who was awarded the Royal College of Nursing London BAME Rising Star Award 2020.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kerry was redeployed from her corporate role to a front line clinical role within the Acute and Rehabilitation Directorate, where she provided support to the older adult and adult ward.

Moriam Adekunle, Associate Director of Nursing (Clinical Effectiveness), said: “The period saw Kerry step in to support colleagues and patients and also provide clinical leadership in the absence of the ward manager.

“Her professionalism, clinical expertise and compassionate care made an outstanding difference to the morale of staff and patient care as a whole in what is described as a very difficult and extraordinary circumstances.”

After two months of supporting patients and staff at the Woodbury older adults mental health unit, Kerry went on to support Knight Ward, an adult female assessment unit, where she remained for four months of her redeployment.

Kerry said: “I would like to say a big thank you to my leaders for all your support throughout this journey. I would also like to say thank you to all the staff that supported me during my time of redeployment at Woodbury Unit and Knight Ward.

“The staff demonstrated compassion, courage, commitment and dedication and I feel very fortunate to have worked with such amazing skilled practitioners especially in such a challenging time. I am very honoured to be receiving this award and thank you once again to everyone that has supported me.”

RCN Rising Star Awards form an important part of Black History Month celebrations. They provide an opportunity to recognise excellence in patient care, innovation, and leadership of the Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic professionals who make an outstanding contribution to health and social care.

RCN Regional Director for London, Lisa Elliott, said “Our Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic nursing community play a vital role in caring for Londoners. The expertise and professionalism shown by our Rising Stars represent nursing care at its best as well as demonstrating the unique contribution our BAME nursing community in London makes.   

“However, we cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that there is still a huge amount of work to do to ensure our nursing colleagues from BAME backgrounds have the same opportunities as others. RCN London is committed to taking a leading role in promoting the voice of the BAME nursing community in the capital and challenging employers where poor practice exists.”