Leigh Anne Spinelli
January 2025
Leigh Anne
Spinelli
,
RN
Immunisation
Northampton General Hospital Trust
Northampton
United Kingdom
Leigh-Anne is a dedicated, hard-working, and caring nurse who is an example of an amazing leader. Since becoming the lead maternity immunisation nurse last year, she has continually thought of ways to improve not only the figures but also the working environment for her team.
Last year, the whooping cough uptake figures got as low as 39% per month. With Leigh-Anne’s hard work, that figure has now been over 70% for the 3 months of the year so far. This is against a national target of 60%. With the rise in whooping cough in the community, she has really driven for this vaccine to be discussed and offered at every opportunity. Her excellent communication with other professionals within maternity services has greatly helped promote and increase the visibility of the immunisation service.
Her improvements, knowledge, and dedication have been acknowledged by regional and national immunisation teams, who invited her to present at a regional meeting to showcase the changes made to improve the service at NGH. She has also been invited to be a panel member to review national PGDs going forward.
Leigh-Anne has created a really close team who all respect and trust her. Nothing is ever too much trouble; she checks in and supports each member of staff, including admin and clerical staff. Her passion and ability to share her vision for the service really motivate the rest of the team.
She has created a new and welcoming vaccination room, with lots of additional immunisation information to inform women and parents not only about the vaccinations we offer at the hospital, but also ones they can and need to get in the community.
Her passion to help each patient shines – she goes above and beyond. An example recently was a family in her BCG clinic who did not speak much English, who had not registered their baby’s birth, with 2 days until the legal deadline. Leigh-Anne found out how they do this, made the appointment for them, printed their confirmation, and told them where they needed to go. The family was so very grateful.
Last year, the whooping cough uptake figures got as low as 39% per month. With Leigh-Anne’s hard work, that figure has now been over 70% for the 3 months of the year so far. This is against a national target of 60%. With the rise in whooping cough in the community, she has really driven for this vaccine to be discussed and offered at every opportunity. Her excellent communication with other professionals within maternity services has greatly helped promote and increase the visibility of the immunisation service.
Her improvements, knowledge, and dedication have been acknowledged by regional and national immunisation teams, who invited her to present at a regional meeting to showcase the changes made to improve the service at NGH. She has also been invited to be a panel member to review national PGDs going forward.
Leigh-Anne has created a really close team who all respect and trust her. Nothing is ever too much trouble; she checks in and supports each member of staff, including admin and clerical staff. Her passion and ability to share her vision for the service really motivate the rest of the team.
She has created a new and welcoming vaccination room, with lots of additional immunisation information to inform women and parents not only about the vaccinations we offer at the hospital, but also ones they can and need to get in the community.
Her passion to help each patient shines – she goes above and beyond. An example recently was a family in her BCG clinic who did not speak much English, who had not registered their baby’s birth, with 2 days until the legal deadline. Leigh-Anne found out how they do this, made the appointment for them, printed their confirmation, and told them where they needed to go. The family was so very grateful.