Royal Berkshire Hospital receives inaugural Sarah Henshaw Award for Clinical Excellence

We are delighted to announce that the team at Royal Berkshire Hospital have been awarded the inaugural Sarah Henshaw Award for Clinical Excellence.

Many in our community will remember Sarah as an exceptional Clinical Nurse Specialist. Her commitment to clinical excellence, progress, person-centred care, and above all, her compassion and advocacy for people affected by myeloma, set a standard for us all.

This award is Sarah’s legacy – a way to recognise teams who embody the values she championed. Royal Berkshire Hospital exemplify these values through their innovation grounded in empathy, collaboration and through care that sees the whole person, not just the myeloma.

Royal Berkshire Hospital: Shaping better myeloma care

Royal Berkshire Hospital celebrated their Clinical Service Excellence Programme (CSEP) accreditation in February 2025. Their work consistently reflects the values at the heart of the Sarah Henshaw Award for Clinical Excellence: partnership isn’t a project or an initiative for this team, but the culture they practise every day. Across the myeloma pathway, they collaborate with patients, colleagues and the wider community to shape care that is more connected, more compassionate and more effective.

Improving care across the pathway

The myeloma team at Royal Berkshire Hospital have introduced multi-stakeholder service meetings, modelling shared ownership of the patient pathway from the outset. Bringing together clinicians across the myeloma multidisciplinary team, and including a patient representative as standard practice, this approach ensures decisions are shaped by both clinical expertise and lived practice. A pathway where collaboration is the norm not only means treatment and care is approached from a whole person perspective but also encourages shared learning, which strengthens the service as a whole.

The commitment to joined-up care is equally evident in the team’s approach to prehabilitation and rehabilitation for transplant patients. Working closely with the bone marrow transplant team, they provide physical, psychological and practical support that prepares patients for transplant and helps them recover with confidence. It’s a holistic model that reflects the values at the heart of the award – care that sees the whole person, not just the condition.

Patient involvement in action

By involving people with myeloma in service design and delivery, Royal Berkshire Hospital places patients at the heart of everything they do. One such example is the patient newsletter – created by CNS Juliette Dye in collaboration with local support group leader and patient, Stuart Fraser.

This co-produced resource strengthens trust and transparency by offering accessible, empowering information on everything from current research and clinical trials to vaccinations, bone protection, travel advice and support services. It’s a communication tool that keeps patients informed, connected and confident in their care.

Patient involvement also shapes services directly. By involving a patient representative in the team’s regular service meetings, the patient voice is embedded in decision-making from the outset.

A strong commitment to holistic care

Sarah believed in prioritising the patient first in all aspects of care, and the team at Royal Berkshire Hospital embody this value completely in their outstanding holistic care – an area they scored exceptionally highly in during their CSEP assessment. This achievement is more than a mark of excellence, though; it demonstrates the team’s consistent commitment to understanding and supporting every aspect of a patient’s wellbeing.

This ethos is evident within the transplant pathway too, where each patient’s needs are addressed through coordinated support and preparation of an individualised plan. Through prehabilitation, rehabilitation and day-to-day clinical interactions, the team’s approach reinforces a clear principle: exceptional care begins with seeing the person before the myeloma.

A legacy that lives in practice

Sarah Henshaw left a legacy of person-first care – from patient-focused to ensuring the wellbeing, support and learning of her colleagues. She believed in excellence and in seeing and being the progress in care that every person affected by myeloma needs.

It’s clear that the exceptional team at Royal Berkshire Hospital embody these same values and demonstrate daily how working together leads to better experiences and better care. They are a team where feedback is proactively received and recognised as an opportunity for learning and progress – always with the best possible patient care in mind.

Congratulations to all involved in myeloma care at Royal Berkshire Hospital – much-deserved recipients of the inaugural Sarah Henshaw Award for Clinical Excellence.

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