Essex NHS workers given royal welcome to celebrate their service
A nurse specialising in heart care was part of a group of Essex NHS workers welcomed to Buckingham Palace this month to celebrate their dedication to helping local patients.
Sharon Toora was nominated to attend the garden party at the royal palace in London alongside Professor Nick Barker, Joint Regional Chief Dental Officer for the East of England, and Ryan Cossington-Webb, Associate Director for Intermediate Care, Allied Health Professional and Specialist Services at Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, with the group together representing the NHS in the east of England.
Sharon is the Lead Arrhythmia Nurse Specialist at the Essex Cardiothoracic Centre (CTC), the leading heart and lung centre based at Basildon Hospital and which is part of the Trust. The CTC treats patients from across Essex and the wider region.
She provides advanced treatments for patients with arrhythmia and has pioneered the use of new technology to improve patient outcomes with a smartphone app called FibriCheck.
The app uses light from a patient’s phone camera to measure blood flow in their finger, tracking irregular heart rhythm after a procedure and shares the data with the team at the CTC in real-time.
Staff at the hospital can then review and track variations in heart rhythm and offer guidance or adjust the patient’s medication, meaning they do not have to come to hospital as often.
Sharon said: “I feel so very grateful to have been nominated by my Trust and NHS England for my contributions to using digital technology in heart rhythm care for the region. I was absolutely thrilled to have received a Royal Garden Party invitation on behalf of the region’s NHS. It was a special moment walking through the Buckingham Palace gates to see the Royal Family, and truly a once in a lifetime memorable experience!”