TUESDAY, 04 FEBRUARY, 2026

Photographs attached: 1 – Intensive Psychiatric Care Unit (IPCU) nursing team, 2 – Fiona Clark, 3 – Gillian Phimister, 4 – Omar Arshad

Four Tayside finalists announced in prestigious national nursing awards

Tayside nursing staff from across a range of services have been recognised for their exceptional contributions to nursing in Scotland.

NHS Tayside has four finalists across multiple categories in the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland Nurse of the Year Awards 2026.

The Intensive Psychiatric Care Unit (IPCU) nursing team from the Carsview Centre in Dundee has been shortlisted for the Mental Health Nursing Award, which recognises those who have succeeded in raising standards of care for their patients and clients and as well as making an outstanding contribution to the care of service users.

The team is dedicated to providing safe, person-centred care for patients experiencing acute mental illness. In June 2024, the IPCU became the first unit in the UK to achieve full Royal College of Psychiatrists accreditation, meeting 100% of essential standards. Since accreditation, the IPCU team has continued to share their experiences nationally, and their work provides a model for other services.

Fiona Clark, a Parkinson's specialist nurse in Perth has been named as a finalist in the Clinical Leadership category, which recognises an exceptional leader who, by inspiring others, has made a significant difference to service delivery and quality of care. 

Fiona is described as an exceptional frontline clinical leader whose career reflects bravery, innovation and a strong commitment to person-centred care. In her role as co-chair of NHS Tayside’s Area Nursing and Midwifery Advisory Committee, she has significantly influenced local and national nursing strategy and elevated the voice of early-career nurses. Now a trainee Parkinson’s specialist nurse, Fiona has developed a Parkinson’s Disease assessment tool, redesigned care home reviews to align with NICE guidelines, and strengthened multidisciplinary collaboration.

In the Adult Nursing Award category, lead advanced nurse practitioner, Gillian Phimister, based in Dundee was shortlisted for raising standards of care for their patients and service users, making an outstanding contribution to the care of adults.

Gillian successfully established a new advanced nurse practitioner -led clinical model in Dundee’s community frailty service, transitioning a traditional model into an advanced practice workforce delivering urgent, specialist assessment and treatment in patients’ homes.

Gillian’s work has improved triage efficiency and contributed to reduced hospital admissions. The redesigned service has since expanded to operate 7-daysa-week and into extended hours, and her model continues to deliver excellent patient and family feedback, has been showcased nationally and is now informing a wider NHS Tayside approach to urgent community frailty care.

Omar Arshad is amongst the finalists for Nursing Student of the Year, which recognises those who have shown exceptional promise during their professional education and/or practice placement.

Omar was a nursing student at the University of Dundee and now works as a registered nurse at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. Driven by his personal experience living with Crohn’s disease, Omar has transformed his own challenges into a powerful motivation to provide compassionate, person-centred care. His time as a patient inspired him to stand on the other side of care, offering hope, dignity, and strength to those he serves. A passionate advocate for nursing students, Omar is described as embodying the core values of modern nursing: resilience, compassion, service and the commitment to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.

Executive Nurse Director Simon Dunn said, “Huge congratulations to our incredible staff across Tayside who have been announced as finalists for this year’s prestigious RCN Awards. It’s such a brilliant achievement and I’m so proud they are being recognised and celebrated on a national stage.

“We are very fortunate to have so many dedicated and innovative staff working in nursing and midwifery roles across a wide range of services in NHS Tayside. I’d like to thank them for all the great work that they do and I wish them all the best of luck at the awards ceremony.”

The winners of each category will be unveiled at a ceremony on 30 April at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

The RCN Scotland Nurse of the Year Awards shine a light on excellence in Scottish nursing, acknowledging, highlighting and celebrating the unwavering commitment and exceptional professional care provided by nursing staff.

The categories encompass various nursing specialties, acknowledging the indispensable contributions of registered nurses, nursing support workers, broader nursing teams and nursing students. They also recognise the innovation, leadership and dedication to learning displayed within the nursing community.

Contact:

Nisha Pawar

NHS Tayside Communications

07483 354741