A FORMER Warrington Hospital nurse has been awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

Elaine Inglesby-Burke, who was ward sister on ward 16 in the 1980s, said she was proud to be honoured for her services to nursing.

The chief nurse at Salford Royal, who was brought up on Winwick Road before her parents lived in Callands for 30 years, said: “I am honoured to receive this award and extremely humbled to be included in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

"I am as proud today as I was when I received my registration as a nurse in 1980.

“I’ve had the privilege to work alongside the most amazing and inspirational people.

"As nurses we are in the unique position of being part of people’s lives at times of great need and I’ve seen so many examples of staff leading and delivering care in the most kind and compassionate way.”

Elaine’s nursing career spans nearly 38 years and began at Warrington Hospital where she specialised in critical care and general medicine before moving to positions of nurse specialist and manager at St Helens and Knowsley Hospital Trust in 1990.

Nationally, Elaine has been a significant advocate in the campaign for hospitals to set staffing levels in the interests of patient safety.

She was also a member of the Prime Minister’s Nursing and Care Quality Forum and was the only nurse selected to be on the Berwick National Advisory Group on the Safety of Patients in England – a group of healthcare experts set up to examine patient safety issues in the NHS.