A DEVON based team of Macmillan GPs have been recognised for their inspirational work supporting people affected by cancer in the County.

Former world champion swimmer and record holder Mark Foster, presented the team with an award at the prestigious 2014 Macmillan Excellence Awards, held at The Hilton Metropole Hotel in Birmingham on 13 November.

The awards, which are now in their third year, were developed to celebrate the outstanding work carried out by Macmillan health and social care professionals across the country. The event recognised excellence in four areas: service improvement, innovation, integration and teamwork.

The team consists of Dr Susanna Hill - Macmillan GP, Team clinical lead & Macmillan GP Advisor, as well as Macmillan GP’s Dr Prue Mitchell, Dr Jemma Cooper, Dr Sarah Hanrott, Dr Mairead Mcintyre, Dr Michelle Bailey, and Dr Carlie Karakusevic. The team spans across Devon, based at the NEW Devon CCG and South Devon and Torbay CCG. Collectively they were nominated for the Team Excellence category, which honours teams that are high performing, innovative and have provided outstanding levels of support for people affected by cancer due to their fantastic teamwork.

Through their award winning work, they’ve made a significant contribution to the delivery of cancer and end of life services to the people of Devon, helping people to have a better death supported at home, and to reduce avoidable hospital admissions. They are also involved in work on early cancer diagnosis and survivorship, working with Clinical Commissioning Groups and the South West Strategic Clinical Network to influence priorities on the recovery package, hosting workshops and events bringing primary and secondary care together to improve communication.

More than 450 Macmillan professionals as well as representatives from Macmillan and leading healthcare institutions attended the awards ceremony.

The team received a plaque and £500 in recognition of their outstanding contributions.

Dr Prue Mitchell, based in Exmouth said of the honour: “It has been huge honour and surprise to be nominated for this award, let alone win it. We are an unusual team in the respect that we do not meet face to face often, we all work as GPs in different practices across Devon, but we have very frequent communications by email, skype and telephone and we know that as a team we achieve far more than any of us ever could if we were working alone. We are delighted to have our work recognised by Macmillan.”

North Devon based Dr Susanna Hill remarked; “The focus of all our work in the Devon Macmillan GP Facilitator team is to ensure that our patients who have been diagnosed with Cancer and those who are approaching the end of their lives receive the very best care possible. We all get on really well together and support each other in the work that we do. Working in a team where everyone is so positive and committed to Patient Care is an enormous privilege. Receiving recognition from Macmillan for the team’s work is a huge honour and will encourage us to keep working on the projects that we know can make a difference in our Communities.”

These Macmillan GPs are part of a team of local Macmillan professionals supporting people affected by cancer, so that no one