AN AYRSHIRE nurse has received a prestigious award after more than 23 years working to improve the sexual health of people in the area.

Karen Provan has been announced as the winner of the Nurse Spotlight award for 2022 this week.

The hard-working nurse received the award from the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health (FSRH) of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Ms Provan, who has worked with NHS Ayrshire and Arran for more than 23 years, said she was “delighted” to have achieved the accolade.

She explained: “It has made me feel valued and recognises my contribution to the development of sexual health services. It has inspired me to continue to develop the service.”

It comes after Ms Provan was nominated by her colleague, consultant gynaecologist Anja Katharina Guttinger, who said: “It was easy to nominate Karen for this award.  It was an opportunity to pay credit and thank her for the amount and complexity of work she is doing."

Ms Guttinger explained that she put forward her colleague because of her commitment to the role, especially during the pandemic when her strong leadership kept staff and patients safe; limiting redeployment to closely allied services and constantly responding to new guidance.

She added: “She is an incredible role model for the whole department.”

The FSRH Spotlight Award is part of the federation's International Nurse Day celebrations, which recognised the important work of sexual and reproductive health nurses.

Nurses make up a signiciant proportion of the sexual and reproductive health workforce, delivering services that support women and girls throughout their lives.

To find out more about the award, click here.