UK's Margaret Shepherd, 60, wins global nursing award

Mother of three scoops prize for work raising awareness of rare form of diabetes

Margaret Helen Shepherd wins Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award in a ceremony held in London. Credit: Aster DM Healthcare

UK diabetes specialist nurse Margaret Shepherd has been awarded the Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award for her work in combatting genetic diabetes.

A lead nurse for research at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, the 60-year-old mother of three set up a national network of genetic diabetes nurses in the UK in 2002 to raise awareness of the little-known monogenic form of the condition.

This year's competition saw a shortlist of 10 finalists, eight women and two men. Ms Shepherd beat the competition to win the $250,000 (Dh915,000) prize. The awards ceremony took place in London on International Nurses Day.

More than 52,000 nurses from 202 countries entered, including those working in the UAE, Kenya, Panama, Ireland, Singapore, UK, Philippines, India, Portugal and Tanzania.

The finalists included UAE-based Irish nurse Cathy Cribben-Pearse, who founded OakTree Mentoring, a programme for 200 nurses and midwives.

“I’m completely in shock to be quite honest and grateful to receive the award. I feel blessed to be part of such a rewarding profession that makes a positive impact on the lives of patients,” Ms Shepherd told The National.

“I didn’t expect it at all. The other nine finalists were amazing.”

Ms Shepherd started her nursing career in 1987 at King’s College Hospital in London, where she first worked in the diabetes ward.

She was the first diabetes specialist nurse appointed at Greenwich District Hospital and moved to Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital in 1995 joining the team focusing on rare genetic forms of the disease.

In 2002, she set up a national network of genetic diabetes nurses to increase awareness of the condition, one which is initially misdiagnosed in 80 per cent of cases, resulting in patients being treated with unnecessary insulin injections.

Ms Shepherd has identified and trained consultants and diabetes specialist nurse leads in 95 per cent of the hospital trusts in England, ensuring that patients get the correct diagnosis and treatment.

“It is a great opportunity for me to talk about the work that we do in Exeter and get that on a global stage. We offer genetic testing for anybody diagnosed with diabetes below six months of age and we offer that testing across the world,” she said.

Ms Shepherd has also been trying to raise awareness among healthcare professionals about monogenic diabetes which is a type caused by a change in a single gene.

“It’s often misdiagnosed and many patients are thought to have type one diabetes but following a genetic test, we can identify the gene that’s caused their diabetes. That means they can have a different type of treatment,” she said.

Crowdfunding has been needed to support the genetic test to ensure those individuals in countries who cannot afford the test can get it.

“I like to put a donation towards that to ensure those countries who couldn’t afford genetic testing can be able to get that for free,” she said. “Because that’ll make a real difference for those individuals.”

The annual award encourages more nurses to come into the profession, Ms Shepherd said.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to raise the voices of nurses across the world,” she said. “There’s a huge amount of fantastic work being done by nurses everywhere.”

Dr Azad Moopen, chairman and managing director of Aster DM Healthcare said that Ms Shepherd's dedication to her work is inspirational.

“We are honoured to announce Ms Shepherd as the winner of this year's award. She deserves global recognition for her work,” Dr Moopen said at the ceremony.

“Each one of the top 10 finalists has done phenomenal work. The award is a platform to share and honour the accomplishments of exceptional nurses from around the globe.”

Last year's prize was won by Anna Duba from Kenya for her work in helping to protect vulnerable women and children in Africa.

She has since used the prize money to build a school in her home village of Tuba in Marsabit County, northern Kenya. Ms Duba said she also plans to build an adult literacy centre, a health centre for the village and a hostel for pupils.