Ebola nurse honoured by Prime Minister

Julia Hogan, of Beaufort Street, was invited by Prime Minister David Cameron to attend a reception for those tackling the health crisis in West Africa.

She was presented with the medal by Justine Greening, Secretary of State for International Development, and afterwards met the Prime Minister and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

Julia worked for five weeks as a nurse in a British-funded Ebola Treatment Centre in Makeni, Sierra Leone, caring for patients with suspected or confirmed cases of the disease.

On her return, she spent three weeks as part of Public Health England protocol for people returning to the country after volunteering to assist with the Ebola crisis.

Julia also works as a Team Leader for the Contraception and Sexual Health team at Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust.

“It was a real honour to be presented with the medal and have the opportunity to meet the Prime Minister,” she said.

“I feel extremely privileged to have been given the chance to work with the amazing team over there.”

Dee Roach, Executive Director of Nursing, Quality and Governance at Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are extremely proud of what Julia accomplished in Sierra Leone, her courage and commitment to compassionate care is inspiring.

“It was excellent to see one of our nurses with the Trust values at the heart of her work and we are thrilled she has been recognised by the country for this.”

Since its outbreak, there have been over 27,500 cases of Ebola reported confirmed, probable, or suspected, and this figure is still rising each week.

More than 11,000 people have died from the disease.

The UK had led the international response to Ebola in Sierra Leone and has committed £427 million to efforts to defeat the disease.