Easdale Medical Centre’s Fiona Cruickshanks is Nurse of the Year.
Fiona, who is part of the Oban and Lorne Community Nursing team and lead nurse at the GP surgery on Seil, brought the trophy home to Luing after winning the accolade at the Scottish Health Awards, chosen from 900 nominations country-wide.
For more than 30 years, she has dedicated her career to patient-care and was humbled to get an invite to the glitzy awards ceremony in Edinburgh on November 2, taking along her husband Iain and sister Mhairi Ritchie, also a nurse, for company, as well as fellow district nurse Rachel Simpson.
Fiona said her win was great recognition for community nurses who are usually the unsung Cinderellas of the NHS.
“It was a fantastic evening with the most incredible stories being told and achievements being celebrated. I felt humbled to be part of it,” said Fiona, whose patch can cover as far south as Ardfern and to the top of Scammadale, as well as her home community of Luing, the community team can and often do move across each other’s borders to reach patients in need.
Fiona was just 15 and a diabetes patient in the former Oban Community Hospital when she first got interested in nursing as a vocation.
She has also worked for cancer charity Marie Curie and has credited her NHS colleagues for supporting her back to work after she suffered a stroke four years ago.
Also among the finalists from NHS Highland was Tobermory pharmacist Julie Walker.
When Julie moved to Mull seven years ago to take over its only pharmacy, she soon became an essential part of its community and during the Covid pandemic co-ordinated medicine deliveries, and set up the first dosette box delivery scheme containing patients’ medication clearly labelled with times and days to help them remember to take it correctly.
A colleague who nominated Julie said: “She has been an exceptional pharmacist who goes above and beyond every day. Her knowledge, her compassion for others and her care for the community has been beyond measure.”