The winners were announced by health minister Ann Keen.
Development awards are worth up to £6,250 each for the nurses, midwives and health visitors to undertake a project that benefits the health needs of people from black and minority ethnic communities.
Leadership awards are worth up to £12,500 each and enable nurses, midwives and health visitors in leadership positions to undertake a project to improve patient care.
The awards were created in honour of the nurse Mary Seacole, who made a significant contribution to nursing in the 19th century. They are funded jointly by the DoH and NHS Employers.
The winners were:
Leadership Awards
- Concilia Ajuo, sister, Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, north London, to help seeking behaviours of black Africans and black Caribbeans to diagnose HIV/AIDS
- Titilayo Babatunde, lead public health community nurse, Greenwich Community Health Services, south-east London, for improving the outcome of postnatal care for women who have experienced significant life trauma before child birth.
Development Awards
- Marion Fallon, health protection nurse practitioner, Cheshire and Merseyside health protection unit, for hepatitis B in the Chinese population in Liverpool: ideas, beliefs and expectations about preventive services;
- Gillian Francis, health inclusion worker for travellers and gipsies, City and Hackney Community Health Services, for developing the cultural competence of health professionals working with the gypsy traveller community;
- Sonia Clarke-Swaby, recipient transplant co-ordinator, King's College Hospital, London, for exploring the understanding and cultural beliefs surrounding organ donation amongst BME populations.
