Vanessa Martin
Vanessa Martin’s distinguished career in the field of children and young people’s nursing is characterised by a strong commitment to improve patient care in the field of cleft lip and palate care. Her work with multi-professional teams to enhance the care of children undergoing cleft surgery has had a major impact on the provision and delivery of services here, and as far afield as Romania and Nepal.
In the last decade, Vanessa supported the national special interest group for nurses working in this field, while challenging practice standards to achieve optimum provision throughout the UK. Responsible for overseeing the set up of National Cleft Services, she served as the only nurse member of the government steering group appointed to implement the Clinical Standards Advisory Group’s watershed 1998 recommendations. She went on, in 1999, to establish the first Cleft Lip and Palate course in the UK, which has since achieved national and international recognition.
As well as recognising the contribution of specialist nursing groups in the development of research-based protocols, Vanessa believes her RCN Fellowship award is a tribute to colleagues at the Trent Regional Cleft Lip and Palate Service, of which she was until recently, Clinical Director.
“I was part of a dedicated multi-disciplinary team, and in accepting this award I am in essence representing the exceptional work of this team.”