Dr Eve Corner, Lecturer in Physiotherapy at Brunel University London and critical care physiotherapist, has been awarded an MBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours List.
The honour is in recognition of Dr Corner's services to Health Education during Covid-19, thanks to her having led the design and delivery of a high-quality national training scheme that prepared NHS staff who were re-deployed to intensive care units (ICUs) to care for patients hospitalised by the virus.
With most of these staff being from other clinical disciplines, they hadn't undertaken respiratory or critical care work for several years. So in March last year, as the NHS was responding to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic’s first wave, there was an urgent need to provide life-saving critical care skills for the care of these vulnerable patients.
Dr Corner led a Brunel team that worked alongside analytics company 33N to rapidly develop pre-recorded lectures and interactive tutorials with specialists in critical care, demonstrating how to monitor and interpret ICU equipment, ventilation skills, and much more.
In five days, Dr Corner and colleagues developed the content and the interactive web systems, and delivered the pilot to just shy of 100 candidates. Since then, over 2000 clinicians from more than 170 Health Trusts across all four home nations and the Republic of Ireland have benefited from the training.
"All this work was undertaken by Dr Corner in addition to her job as a full-time university lecturer," explained John Cossar, Divisional Lead and Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy.
"It is clear from the overwhelmingly positive feedback from the NHS staff who have taken this training that they have also gained the emotional support and confidence they need for this arduous clinical work."
Dr Corner has produced further education programmes to also prepare NHS staff to provide post-ICU Covid-19 rehabilitation services. Together, these programmes are supporting the NHS to provide Covid-19 patients with the best care within acute ICU settings, through rehabilitation and after discharge home to their community.
The programmes have received widespread recognition and endorsements from the NHS, Health Education England and The Intensive Care Society. To support the educational provision, Dr Corner has also made significant contributions to the production and publication of the clinical research and national clinical guidelines underpinning best care.
"Dr Corner's MBE is richly deserved," said Prof Paul Hellewell, Brunel's Vice-Provost and Dean of the College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences. "Many organisations and individuals were involved in developing these education programmes, but Dr Corner has been the person initiating, leading and undertaking this work.
"These achievements would not have happened without Dr Corner's endless energy and inspirational leadership."
Prof Julia Buckingham CBE, Vice-Chancellor and President of Brunel, added: "It is clear that Dr Corner’s outstanding voluntary work has made a major contribution to national response to the coronavirus pandemic, and benefitted the lives of many NHS staff and people being treated for Covid-19.
"I am delighted that her work has been recognised by the award of this national honour. I am immensely proud of her achievements and of having such an inspirational physiotherapist as part of Brunel’s community.”
Reported by:
Joe Buchanunn,
Media Relations
+44 (0)1895 268821
joe.buchanunn@brunel.ac.uk