A Stratford community matron with 25 years of experience has been awarded the prestigious title of ‘Queen’s Nurse’.

Yemisi Osho, Community Matron at Vicarage Lane Health Centre in Stratford, was given the title by the Queen’s Nursing Institute.

The Institute, which traces its origins to 1887 and a grant by Queen Victoria, is a registered charity dedicated to improving the nursing care of people in their homes. Awarding the Queen’s Nurse title helps nurses who are committed to high standards of care in the community, to make improvements in practice and to act as leaders and role models to others.

As well as being an expereienced nurse Yemisi has also contributed to implementing the “Virtual Ward” concept in Newham. Virtual Wards are a new way of providing intensive, high quality care on a one-to-one basis to patients in their own homes.

In her submission to the Institute, Yemi illustrated the case of an elderly Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) sufferer and the effect that her work as a has had on the patient.

She said: “With patient-centred and nurse-led care, we can look at patients holistically. As a clinical expert and the main patient contact, I am able not only to improve the functional treatment of the disease and ease pains and distress but also to look at their dietary needs, their mental health, their social environment and practical arrangements in the home, by bringing in and managing the specialists around my patient: the social worker, the occupational therapist, the pharmacist. This improved my patient’s wellbeing considerably, avoided severe deterioration and emergency admittance to hospital.

“This has always been my main interest and ambition: to put patients’ wellbeing and their all round care into the centre of health services. The person uniquely qualified to do this are nurses. The Queen’s Nursing Institute pursues this patient and nurse centric care approach and I’m immensely proud of my new title!”