Buckinghamshire Chief Nurse awarded MBE for services to nursing
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust’s Chief Nurse, Karen Bonner, has been awarded an MBE in recognition of her contribution to nursing, as part of the King’s Birthday Honours.
Karen has been a nurse for over 30 years and is a proud descendant of the Windrush generation, her father came to the UK in 1957 from Jamaica and her mother in 1965 from Barbados. Karen’s mother had worked as a Nursing Aid at Stoke Mandeville Hospital inspiring her to become a nurse.
From 2017 until 2021 Karen was a member of the National Health Service (NHS) Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) strategic advisory group and was highly commended by the Nursing Times in 2019 for her work in diversity and inclusion.
She was recognised by the Health Service Journal (HSJ) in 2021 and 2022 as one of the 50 most influential Black, Asian and minority ethnic people in health and one of the top 10 in 2023. To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the NHS, Nursing Times recognised Karen as one of the 75 nurses who have positively shaped the NHS over the past 75 years.
Karen is also a trustee at Helpforce, which seeks to boost volunteering in health and social care and as a volunteer herself, Karen works with Prostate Cancer UK to educate and raise awareness of the disease.
Karen Bonner, Chief Nurse for the Trust said: “I wanted to be a nurse as long as I could remember and I never considered another career. I am truly honoured to be Chief Nurse at the same Trust that my Mum worked as a Nursing Aid and being recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours is truly humbling. I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet. I am grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had in my career to date and I want to thank all the incredible teams and individuals I’ve worked and continue to work with.”
Commenting on the award, Neil Macdonald, Trust CEO, said, “We are so proud to have Karen as part of our team. She thoroughly deserves this recognition not only as a nurse but as an ambassador for all our colleagues and patients. We are also delighted that Dr Andrew Tyerman , who led our Community Head Injury Service for many years, has been awarded Medallist of the Order of the British Empire for services to rehabilitation after acquired brain injury.”
Dame Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer for England said: “Karen has made an enormous contribution to the nursing profession over her 30 year career and I’m pleased to see her recognised with this award. Her work on diversity and inclusion in particular has had a huge impact, both locally and nationally.”