A NURSE consultant at Newcastle Hospitals who has dedicated over 35 years to respiratory medicine has received the 2024 Meritorious Service Award from the British Thoracic Society.
Dr Karen Heslop-Marshall received the accolade – on recommendation of the Society’s Nominations Committee – in acknowledgement of her ’exceptional service to the Society far above that which one would normally expect for their position or role.’
In her years in the NHS, Karen has excelled as a clinician, leader, researcher, and mentor. Starting as an Enrolled Nurse in 1984, she became a respiratory nurse specialist in 1994, driven by her passion for patient care and inspiring others to join the field.
Her achievements include earning a PhD in 2016, ex-president of the North East Thoracic Society, co-chairing BTS’s Nurse Specialist Advisory Group, and serving as Chair of the Association of Respiratory Nurse Specialists (ARNS). A champion of research and education, she has been awarded £2.5 million in funding, published over 40 papers, and is renowned for her work on cognitive behavioural therapy for COPD.
She also actively supports multidisciplinary teams and holds leadership roles with organisations like Asthma + Lung UK and The International coalition of respiratory nurses. The Society said her dedication, kindness, and advocacy for respiratory nursing have inspired countless professionals worldwide.
Karen is only the second nurse to receive this prestigious award since they began in 2008.
She said: “It’s a lovely honour and I’m very proud to receive this award. I am very thankful to Rachel Moses who nominated me and to to the BTS I am very lucky to be in a job I love for so long. I find it so rewarding looking after people with respiratory problems. It is such an important area to work in as lung conditions are the third biggest killer in the UK, yet too little is being done to prevent, diagnose , treat and cure them”.
