Vicki Havercroft Dixon, head of patient and family relations at UHS, takes up lead cancer nurse role with Hampshire Hospitals
Vicki Havercroft Dixon, head of patient and family relations and staff governor for nursing and midwifery at UHS, leaves the Trust today (Wednesday) to take up the position of lead cancer nurse at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Vicki has been part of UHS for 24 years having commenced her nurse training at the Southampton School of Nursing in 1997 as part of the Project 2000 diploma which saw her qualify in 2000.
She spent her first nine years in acute medicine with her primary focus on gastroenterology and hepatology and she was also a key part of the team that set up the medical high dependency unit for respiratory and hepatology in 2004.
In 2009 Vicki changed speciality and moved to a ward manager position in oncology on Ward D3 where one of her key achievements was establishing the first Macmillan acute oncology service.
The project, which launched in 2011, was so successful that she presented the model both nationally and internationally and assisted neighbouring trusts with education programmes to set up their own services.
The acute oncology secondment came to an end in 2014 and, after completing her MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice, she became an inflammatory bowel disease clinical nurse specialist, running nurse-led clinicals and setting up the first IBD patient panel which is still running today.
In 2015 Vicki returned to cancer care as matron for palliative and end of life care, heading up the Countess Mountbatten House hospice and Trust palliative care teams.
In November 2018 the hospice was taken over by Mountbatten Isle of Wight and Vicki was redeployed into her current position as head of patient and family relations.
Vicki also completed a quality improvement fellowship with Health Education Wessex and a Florence Nightingale Leadership Scholarship during her time with UHS.
“I feel extremely privileged to have been part of UHS for so long and to have been part of some amazing developments for patients, particularly the creation of the acute oncology service which is definitely one of the highlights of my career,” said Vicki.
“Meanwhile, my recent role as head of patient and family relations has given me the opportunity to influence others and encourage changes, finding new ways to improve patients’ experiences and those of their relatives and loved ones.”
She added: “UHS has been a family to me for a long time and I am going to miss the people more than anything else, though I leave having made some lifelong friends and connections and knowing that UHS will always be a part of me and made me who I am today.”
Ellis Banfield, head of experience and involvement at UHS, said: “I have been lucky to work with Vicki over past three years, and what has really shone through is her commitment to getting things right for patients and families.
“She continuously sought out ways to improve the services she managed and never lost sight of the patient at the heart of what we all do.’