9th January 2025

Congratulations to Lesley Rutherford who was awarded a BEM in the New Years Honours for services to Palliative Care Patients in Northern Ireland.
Lesley has dedicated 45 years to a career in nursing, working for over 34 years specifically in the area of Palliative Care. This honour reflects the dedication, compassion and professionalism shown by Lesley throughout her service.
When asked about being recognised in the 2025 New Year Honours Lesley said, “I was genuinely shocked when I was notified that I had been nominated for this award and wondered “Why me?”
After the initial shock had worn off, Lesley reflected,
“I love working in palliative care and I knew from an early stage in my career that I really wanted to work within this specialism.
“One of the central principles of palliative care is about providing a holistic approach to patient care. It is about getting to know the person as a unique individual and finding out who and what is important to them, what their concerns and priorities are and how we can best support them.
“The patients and their family or carers are my inspiration and I see it as a privilege to be able to support them in some way along their journey. They are the reason I love my job.”
Being a member of a Specialist Palliative Care team is a very rewarding but challenging role as the patients and family or carers Lesley supports are at a particularly vulnerable time of life. Whilst it is a personal honour for Lesley, she’s keen to pay tribute to the team and other colleagues she works alongside.
“The provision of good generalist and specialist palliative care requires a team approach and although the award may be in my name I feel it is also a recognition of the work of all those who strive to provide good palliative and end of life care.
“As the need for specialist palliative care services continues to increase, my hope is that more funding will become available to enable us to continue providing this essential care and also to enable us to develop services further within this area.
“I would like to express my gratitude to all the colleagues I have worked with over the years and most importantly to those patients and their families or carers who have allowed me to support and care for them at a very vulnerable time in their lives.”
Thank you Lesley for your many years of dedicated service to our patients and congratulations on your well deserved recognition.>