Prison nurse wins UK award

Sonia Farrow, who is senior nurse in the prison’s substance misuse service, won the Patient Focus award at Care UK’s National Healthcare Awards, which is open to thousands of healthcare workers and celebrates excellence in healthcare and support services across the country.

Sonia’s commitment also extends to her team, ensuring they are trained and supported to deliver excellent care.

Sonia accepted the trophy at the awards ceremony at Lord’s Cricket Ground recently.

The awards are open to thousands of healthcare and support workers and celebrate excellence in healthcare.

She said: “I was thrilled and humbled to receive the award, my fellow finalists were very impressive and clearly all nurses dedicated to the wellbeing of their patients.

“I love my job. It gives us real opportunities to influence the future health and wellbeing of people who have struggled with addiction in the past.”

Sarah Bromley, national medical director of Health in Justice (HiJ), said: “Sonia is passionate about her service and strives to ensure that her patients have faith and trust in what they can achieve; she has even invented a board game to play during group sessions to help patients to talk about difficulties with their peers to support their treatment.

“High-quality healthcare in prison is vital both for the prisoners and for wider society, because if problems such as substance misuse can be tackled during a prisoner’s sentence, they are better-equipped to move forward positively with their lives when they leave prison.

“Sonia’s work is supporting this challenge and I am delighted that she has won this award.”