Michelle Croston wins national ‘HIV Nursing Award’

Shaun Watson (Chairman of NHIVNA Committee) Michelle Croston (HIV Nurse) and Cindy Elliott (Medical Scientist at Gilead Sciences)

Michelle Croston, an HIV Nurse Specialist from North Manchester General Hospital, has won the National HIV Nurses Association (NHIVNA)/Gilead ‘HIV Nursing Award’ for 2017.

The award was presented at the 19th Annual Conference of the National HIV Nurses Association, which was held in Bristol on 22 to 23 June 2017.

The awards were set up in 2007 to recognise the outstanding achievements of nurses who have made a significant or unique contribution to the care and quality of life of people with HIV.

Michelle said: “I am very proud to be recognised in this way by the NHIVNA and it is an honour to have won the award when the competition was so high. I’d like to thanks all my colleagues at North Manchester General Hospital and the NHIVNA for its support.”

Dr Katherine Ajdukiewicz, Clinical Director and Consultant for infectious diseases and tropical medicine at The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages North Manchester General Hospital, said: “I am delighted for Michelle, who is an enthusiastic and motivated HIV nurse specialist. She thoroughly deserves this award as she is compassionate and has extensive knowledge of this field of nursing. Michelle has worked tirelessly to improve the care of patients and the knowledge and skills of nurses working within the speciality of HIV nursing.”

The North West Infectious Diseases Unit at North Manchester General Hospital is a 26 bedded unit with isolation facilities. 1472 inpatients were looked after on the wards in 2015 and 9790 outpatients were seen.

The unit looks after all types of infection and has a large cohort of patients with HIV. It is the largest treatment centre nationally for hepatitis C and has an award-winning research department along with a focus on community and prison clinics, providing care closer to where patients live and work.

In addition to general infection clinics there are a number of specialist clinics including tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacteria; HIV; chronic hepatitis B/C; pre-travel; and Human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) clinics.

Michelle Croston has instigated collaboration with the British Psychological Society, which has resulted in a national audit of psychological care for PLWH and the development of an education innovation for nurses. In addition, she has been instrumental in developing an academy of leadership for HIV nurses, through NHIVNA. Michelle has also been local NHIVNA chair for the last two years.