Melvina Stober, a 'fantastic' team district nurse team leader at the Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, has been recognised with a prestigious 'Rising Star' award.

Melvina has been named as a Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Rising Star in recognition of her "compassion, commitment and exceptional leadership talents."

The district nurse team lead co-ordinates the trust's largest team in Greenwich, and was nominated by the director of nursing at the Oxleas trust.

The awards are part of RCN's London celebration of Black History Month 2020, which aims to recognise the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) contribution to health and social care.

The trust said Melvina had been recognised for "her ability to foster team spirit and innovation which has proved invaluable during testing times for our district nurses who have been faced with extremely high caseloads due to the pandemic."

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They added she had ‘quietly and confidently’ led her team through these challenges, thanks to a foundation of trust, support and engagement.

As part of her Florence Nightingale Leadership course last year, Melvina has also launched a Quality Improvement (Qi) project to improve the efficiency of the daily team handover, halving the time it takes to complete.

Melvina spoke about what the award means to her on the most recent Oxwide broadcast, saying "it meant so much more than anyone can imagine."

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"I'm overwhelmed to have won it, I still haven't gotten to terms with it yet.

"I am very appreciative of all the support I've been given, and it just shows how much encouragement Oxleas is showing to their staff."

Jane Wells, the Director of Nursing who nominated Melvina for the award, said: "Melvina is an exceptional district nurse team lead, co-ordinating our largest team in Greenwich and I am delighted and very proud that her compassion, commitment and exceptional leadership talents have been recognised in this way."