Oxford nurse wins national award for pandemic work

Ariel Lanada was 'instrumental' in helping staff, his hospital trust said

A nurse who has been "instrumental" in supporting colleagues and Oxfordshire's Filipino community during the pandemic has won a national award.

Ariel Lanada won BAME Nurse of the Year in the National BAME Health and Care Awards at a virtual event on Thursday.

The nurse, who also organised hot meals for NHS staff in Oxford, said he was "incredibly honoured" to win the award.

"It has been a pleasure and a privilege to be able to support my colleagues and the Filipino community," he said.

Mr Lanada told the BBC during the first wave of the pandemic that there was "heightened anxiety" among members of Oxford's Filipino community after two hospital porters died.

Of about 3,000 Filipinos living and working in Oxfordshire, approximately 500 work at Oxford University's Hospital's Trust, with the majority of them nurses.

Ariel Lanada, who has worked as a nurse in Oxford for 18 years, said he was "touched and moved by the generosity" of the public who donated money for NHS meals

The trust said Mr Lanada had been "instrumental in supporting his colleagues and the Filipino community in Oxfordshire through what has been an extremely difficult period".

Sam Foster, chief nursing officer at the trust, said: "The support that Ariel and others in our trust have been able to give is so vital, and such an essential part of wellbeing and care during this time.

"We are incredibly proud of everything Ariel and all of our staff do."

Mr Lanada, who trained colleagues to safely wear personal protective equipment during the first wave of coronavirus in the UK, said the "teamwork" in the city's hospitals had been "wonderful to see".