Latest news from Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Read news from across Nottingham University Hospitals.
Nottingham Hospitals Head of Global Health wins a national award
Richard Holder, Head of Global Health Partnerships (GHP) at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH), has been awarded a national Diaspora Health Champions Award.
The awards, hosted by Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET), are an opportunity to highlight the inspiring contribution that diaspora staff (the dispersion or spread of a people from their original homeland) are making to advance global health, as well as celebrate those, such as Richard, who are leading this work.
Richard said “I was surprised and delighted to receive this award. I didn’t know I had been nominated so it was a lovely surprise. I’m very proud of the important work the Global Health Hub does.
“I am so pleased we are starting to utilise the knowledge of our diaspora staff and learn from everyone's experiences. The awards were a fantastic evening, hearing first hand some of the incredible work that is taking place around the country.”
Richard has two decades of experience across mental health and psychotherapy, and champions sustainable global healthcare initiatives for low and middle-income countries.
Along with this, Richard chairs the BAME Network at NUH and launched our Global Health Hub in 2023, a supportive community for diaspora staff. NUH is one of three trusts in England with an official hub.
Richard was nominated for this award by Lisa Kelly, Chief Operating Officer at NUH. She said: “Richard has shown outstanding commitment to developing NUH Global Health Partnerships, an opportunity to develop and strengthen international collaborations. He is very deserving of this award.
“He has focussed on building upon the skills of our diaspora colleagues across the organisation. He is working in partnership in with university colleagues and has won two successful grants to allow us to work with healthcare colleagues in Ghana and Uganda, with reciprocal benefits for NUH such as, leadership development, cultural competencies and much more.”
Shahban Meherban, Anaesthetic Operating Department Practitioner and Clinical Lead for the GHP, worked with Richard to set up partnership, and said: “Richard has done a tremendous job building the GHP initiative. There are only two other NHS trusts in the UK who have official GHPs. Richard has developed this almost single-handedly from the ground up!
“He has laid the foundations for the GHP to have a far-reaching impact for all staff at NUH and thoroughly deserves this award!”
The work that Richard and the NUH Global Health Partnerships are doing is being discussed at today’s NUH Inclusion Conference. The conference is about embedding inclusivity at NUH, launching the Workforce Inclusion Strategy among other things. The conference marks a significant milestone in our commitment to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the organisation.