Dr Mary Stocker, a consultant at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, has been recognised in the South West regional NHS Parliamentary Awards.
Mary, who is a Consultant Anaesthetist and was Clinical Lead for the Day Surgery Unit at Torbay Hospital for over 15 years, has been awarded the Excellence in Healthcare award for her contributions to advancing best practice and excellence in day surgery.
The NHS Parliamentary Awards were launched in 2018 to celebrate the NHS’s 70 birthday and recognise the outstanding contribution of staff, volunteers and others working in the health and care sector.
The Excellence in Healthcare award recognises individuals or teams who go above and beyond to improve outcomes and experiences for patients living with and beyond these major health conditions or work to prevent them.
Mary will be presented with her regional award at the NHS Parliamentary Awards ceremony where the national category winner will also be selected. The ceremony will be held at One Great George Street, Westminster on Wednesday 06 July 2022.
Torbay Hospital’s Day Surgery Unit, which treats over 9,000 people every year, became internationally recognised under Mary’s leadership for its innovation, day-case rates and quality of outcomes for the people receiving care.
Mary has national recognition as past-president of the British Association of Day Surgery, and her recent work has seen her take on the role of day surgery lead for NHS England and NHS Improvement South West, and she is now Joint Clinical Lead for the Southwest Ambulatory Orthopaedic Centre (SWAOC) at NHS Nightingale Exeter (Nightingale).
This role at the Nightingale has seen Mary play a key part in the development of innovative ambulatory pathways, enabling the centre to take a significant role in tackling surgery backlogs in the region. The centre has already become the leading ambulatory orthopaedic centre in terms of day-case rates for hip and knee replacement surgery in the country.
Mary, on the announcement of the award, said:
“I am delighted and honoured to accept this award. The work which I have championed both locally and nationally has only been possible due to the support and dedication of the multidisciplinary team within the Torbay Hospital Day Surgery Unit, the Southwest Ambulatory Orthopaedic Centre and the British Association of Day Surgery.
“I thank all these teams whose unfailing support and enthusiasm has allowed me to help pioneer excellence in day surgery within Torbay and South Devon and beyond.”
Liz Davenport, Chief Executive for Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“I am delighted to see Mary recognised for her outstanding contributions to healthcare in both our local area and at a regional level. Mary has been the driving force behind the developments in Day Surgery in Torbay and South Devon which has made a real difference to the experience of people who need surgery. We are all incredibly proud of what she has achieved and extremely pleased to have her as part of our team.
“The impact Mary has had at a regional level is clear to see, with her leadership vital to the setup and success of the new surgical services at the Nightingale.”
