New Year Honours 2024 at King's Health Partners

A nine-year-old patient at Evelina London Children’s Hospital has become one of the youngest ever recipients of a New Year Honour.

Tony Hudgell – pictured right with HRH The Princess of Wales - has been awarded a BEM (British Empire Medal) for his services to the prevention of child abuse. Tony received life-saving treatment at the hospital and has raised more than £1.8m for Evelina London Children’s Charity.

Find out how the money will help the hospital in the video at the bottom of this article.

The inspiring youngster was among four people from across the partnership to be recognised in the New Year Honours.

Prof Ulrike Schmidt

Prof Ulrike Schmidt, Professor of Eating Disorders and Director of the Centre of Research on Eating and Weight Disorders (CREW) at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, has been awarded an OBE for services to people with eating disorders.

She led the development and research on FREED (First Episode Rapid Intervention for Eating Disorders), which is now available in NHS Trusts across the UK, and she is the Principal Investigator of a large research consortium on early intervention for eating disorders.

She said: “I am absolutely delighted by this award. I hope this will help to shine a light on the needs and plight of people affected by eating disorders, and on the fact that research really makes a tangible difference to these people's lives.”

Prof Schmidt featured in our Mind of the Matter collaboration with YouTube that hears from experts discussing common mental health topics. Watch her video on understanding eating disorders here:

Understanding Eating Disorders | Mind of the Matter: Hear From The Experts (youtube.com)

Prof David Edwards

Prof David Edwards, Consultant Neonatologist at Evelina London Children's Hospital and Professor of Paediatrics & Neonatal Medicine at King's College London, has been made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for services to health research.

Over his 40-year career he has made an enormous impact not just on the survival of babies, but on the quality of life of some of the sickest new-borns cared for in neonatal units around the UK and internationally.

Prof Edwards discovered that the mechanism of birth asphyxia critically includes the triggering of massive neural apoptosis. He found that reduced temperature interrupts a post-asphyxial apoptotic programme, and with colleagues around the world translated this discovery into the first successful treatment for birth asphyxia, now in routine use across the world.

He said: “This is really recognition of the work done by my scientific and clinical colleagues past and present which I have had the pleasure to be associated with.”

Moses Ayoola

Moses Ayoola, Director of Estates and Facilities at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, has been awarded a BEM (British Empire Medal) for his services to leadership in the NHS. With almost 20 years of experience working in and supporting the NHS, Moses has been an inclusive and values-based leader in estates and facilities management, championing patient experience.

Moses, who has worked at the Trust for the past two years and is currently on secondment at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, said he is “honoured and humbled” to be recognised in the Honours. to have been awarded the British Empire Medal for services to Leadership in the NHS.

He added: “I would like to thank those that have helped me along the way, my various teams (past and present), colleagues at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS FT and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. Also, a big thank you to all the great leaders that have helped shaped my leadership style along the way.”

Thank you, Tony! A video by Evelina London Children's Hospital:

Thank you, Tony! (youtube.com)