Health heroes making a difference for patients are amongst Shropshire residents recognised with New Year Honours

Three Shropshire residents receive OBEs: Shrewsbury GP Dr Matt Kearney; Peter Laybourn, the Church Stretton-based chair and founder of International Synergies; and Professor Robert Ormerod, deputy vice-chancellor and provost at Keele University, who is from Whitchurch.

Philippa Jacqueline Jones, 68 and from Knockin, who has been part of the NHS for 50 years and is a board member of the UK Acute Oncological Society (UKAOS), has also been awarded the MBE for her services to oncology.

Luke Pollard, originally from Telford but now living in Leicestershire, will receive the MBE for services to Paratriathlon. Mr Pollard was the guide for Dave Ellis as they secured gold in the para-triathlon at the Paris 2024 games.

Mrs Jones, who has lived in Shropshire for 24 years and is married with two sons and a daughter, has been specifically recognised for the creation of a 24-hour triage tool to help acute cancer patients at all times of the day.

The triage tool is now used as the standard of care around the UK, and in Shropshire, and has also been adopted internationally.

Reacting to the news of her honour Mrs Jones, who is originally from Wales, said: "I am thrilled! I read a little bit about the process since receiving the letter and I understand a huge amount of work goes into the process by the people who have nominated me and I think that makes me very, very proud, because it is an honour nationally to be recognised but it is my peers who have done all the hard work to achieve this and their recognition means so much."

Mrs Jones comes from a family of nurses, with her mother and her two sisters both working in the profession, as well as her own three sisters, her daughter, and her niece.

She paid tribute to those who have helped in working to improve the lives of cancer patients.

She said: "There are so many people I would like to thank, including UK AOS, the United Kingdom Oncology Nursing Society (UKONS), and Macmillan Cancer Support, and all the fantastic hospitals and teams I have worked with over the years. There are so many people who have made a difference, including Dr Ernie Marshall and Naomi Clatworthy."

The specific triage tool is to help people going through cancer treatment, who contact 24-hour lines for support.

Mrs Jones said: "When you are feeling particularly sick due to either your cancer disease or the treatment you are receiving, you want access to help 24 hours a day and that is what we are striving to ensure.

"We are particularly concerned with cancer patients when they are at a crisis point - physically or emotionally - and we want to make sure there is access to support and guidance at all times, and that is what we are working really hard to develop."

Mrs Jones said it was hugely rewarding to see the guidance being used practically to improve the lives of patients - as well as the staff speaking to them.

She said: "It makes me feel fantastic because myself and my small merry band that started the development of this tool were very worried about the quality of advice given over a 24-hour period - not only for the patients but for the person answering the telephone. It can be quite scary, it is a big responsibility and we want to be sure we are giving the best and safest advice at all times."

Meanwhile Dr Kearney, 68, from Bowbrook in Shrewsbury, who is married with three grown-up sons, said he was "thrilled" at his recognition.

Dr Kearney, who works as a locum GP in Shropshire, was a senior partner at Marysville Medical Practice in Shrewsbury.

His OBE comes for recognition of his services to health and the prevention of cardiovascular disease - specifically efforts to prevent heart attacks and strokes happening in the first place.

Dr Kearney is senior advisor for cardiovascular health at UCL partners, an organisation that brings together researchers, NHS and industry.

From 2016-2019 he served as NHS England’s first national clinical director for cardiovascular disease prevention.

He has been the founder of several major resources driving prevention in primary care. He created CVDprevent, the national primary care audit, and has developed CVDACTION - a smart data tool that brings together all the key metrics for cardiovascular disease prevention in one place.

Reacting to the news of the honour Dr Kearney said: "It is a real surprise, I am really thrilled I have to say, it just feels like a great honour.

"But also, I have not done this alone - I have been working with great teams which is why we have managed to develop the resources we have, it is really important to stress that - these things happen because you have great people around you."

Dr Kearney said he believes it is vital to do more to prevent issues like heart attacks and strokes.

He said: "Prevention is a real priority for the NHS now. It really is a national priority because if the NHS is going to survive and be fit for the future we need to get much better at prevention rather than waiting for people to get ill and treating them."

Dr Kearney's work has been to develop tools to help spot patients at higher risk - be it through high blood pressure, cholesterol, or diabetes.

He said: "If you take blood pressure for example, if we could get more people with high blood pressure treated fully then across England we would prevent something like 6,000 heart attacks a year, so the numbers are huge."

Dr Kearney said prevention is vital, having seen first-hand the impact of heart attacks and strokes.

He said: "When people use these tools we can see that lots more people do get treated, which is encouraging but we could do much, much better and we will only make the NHS fit for the future if we do get much better and have more GPs using these tools.

"This is not about getting GPs to do more work, because they are under pressure all the time."

He added: "We have had great feedback from the GPS using them, finding them really helpful because they find they are treating patients better and preventing illness."

Professor Ormerod, from Whitchurch, has been deputy vice-chancellor and provost of Keele University since 2015.

He was previously pro vice-chancellor (Research and Enterprise) and head of the Schools of Physical and Geographical Sciences, and Chemistry and Physics.

Reacting to the news he had been recognised with an OBE for services to education and sustainability, he said: "I am both delighted and humbled to receive an OBE.

"I feel very fortunate to have worked with lots of very talented and committed people throughout my career, who have provided inspiration and motivation to try to make a difference to education, research and the environment.”

Professor Ormerod has an international profile for his leadership, advocacy and communication of low carbon and environmental sustainability issues, including serving on numerous national bodies.

He is also has a strong commitment to widening access to higher education.

In Mid Wales, Welshpool's Stephen Rigby, the founder of The Children's Chess Club (3Cs) receives the British Empire Medal for services to Young People.

Gareth Ratcliffe, of Hay-on-Wye, also receives the MBE for charitable services to the Brecon Beacons.

Meanwhile the Lord-Lieutenant of Shropshire, Anna Turner said she was delighted at the recognition for Shropshire residents.

She said: “It is a proud moment for our county that Shropshire citizens have been recognised for their contributions to cardio-vascular disease, the UK’s green economy and climate action, education & sustainability, and oncology. I would like to congratulate them all for their efforts.”

She added: “It brings me a huge amount of pleasure to see that Shropshire residents have once again been recognised by His Majesty for the outstanding work they have achieved. These medals are only given to a small proportion of people who have either achieved something exceptional in public life or selflessly made life better for others. It is a proud moment for all of us and I would like to congratulate them all for their incredible efforts.”