A NURSE from Southampton has been announced as the national winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award, after dedicating her career to helping the homeless.

Pamela Campbell is a founding member of the Homeless Healthcare Team at Solent NHS Trust and was nominated for the award by Southampton Itchen MP Royston Smith.

The NHS Parliamentary Awards initially ask each region's MPs to nominate an individual or team who have made the biggest improvements to health services.

Shortly after her nomination, she was announced as the regional winner at the NHS Parliamentary Awards in June and recently celebrated her winning success at the finals in London, where she was given the national award against all other regions.

Pamela, who registered as a nurse in 1979, said:"It has been my privilege, for the past 27 years, to work with people experiencing the lack one of the most fundamental human rights - a home.

“I have come to realise that being an advocate for a truly marginalised group of people has brought me into contact with truly incredible people, but also the harsher side of life."

She became a nurse practitioner in 2001 and then a nurse prescriber a year later - and as part of her career, she has been involved in various projects, including the Breathing Space Project, which enables safe and supported discharge of homeless patients.

MP Royston Smith said: “Through Pamela’s work with the most vulnerable in society, she has helped countless numbers of people return to a stable healthy life.

"Southampton is truly grateful to this health champion and guardian."

Solent NHS Trust’s Chief Executive, Sue Harriman, said: “I know that everyone in Solent NHS Trust is over the moon that Pamela has been awarded this incredibly prestigious award and that her dedication has been recognised and celebrated today.

"We can’t praise Pamela enough - she is an incredible lady and a selfless person who gives so much of herself to helping some of the most vulnerable people in Southampton.

"I am completely in awe of Pamela, and the difference she makes, she is a real inspiration. A huge well done to Pamela, and a big thank you for dedicating your working life to the service.”

This is the second year running that a member of the Solent NHS Trust Team has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.