The Government has fully endorsed the Lindsay Leg Club Model, and Ellie has met with many leading figures within the Government...
Photograph by kind permission of the Nursing Standard
Ellie received an invitation to meet the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State, Dr John Reid at an Innovators Breakfast meeting at 10 Downing Street in April. The purpose of the meeting was for a small group of Innovation Award winners within the Nursing and Medical professions to discuss their work. Both Tony Blair and John Reid asked individuals to describe the challenges, obstacles and resistance to change they had overcome whilst introducing improvement in service delivery and patient empowerment within the NHS.
One of the core themes of the government’s health care policy is the encouragement of patient empowerment. Ellie told the Prime Minister that the success of her model, in truly empowering patients to become partners and to have a voice in their care, had dramatically improved patients’ quality of life. In addition it has proved to be an exceedingly cost-effective model of care.
Ellie Lindsay with John Reid (Secretary of State)
In his speech to RCN Congress (May 2004) John Reid Secretary of State for Health identified how increasingly nurses were seizing opportunities to make a real difference to the care patients received. He mentioned several nurses, including some he had met at 10 Downing Street. Among them was Ellie Lindsay, winner of the Nursing Standard Nurse 2003 (Wound Care) Award.
Through her work as a district nursing sister in a rural community, Ellie introduced the concept of Leg Clubs for people with leg ulcers. There are now Leg Clubs covering the UK, Australia, Tasmania and Europe. John Reid praised this innovation, noting Ellie's total dedication to enhancing nursing care and overcoming barriers and resistance to change.
Ellie Lindsay with Chris Beasley (Chief Nursing Officer) and Fiona Stephens
Ellie and Fiona Stephens had an interview with Chris Beasley the Chief Nursing Office for England at the Department of Health, Whitehall.