Nicole Satullo, a member of the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) palliative care team, scooped the Diversity and Inclusion award.

Satullo serves as the Palliative Care Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Officer for Katharine and Sobell House Hospices at OUH.

Her work in promoting diversity and inclusivity amongst staff, patients, and their families was the deciding factor for her victory.

The award, given to Nicole at a recent ceremony celebrating expertise in the sector, recognises successful initiatives demonstrating advancement in the face of adversity, efforts to ensure equal care access, sensitivity to cultural differences, and the fostering of an environment where individual differences are respected and valued.

Over the past year, Satullo worked to gather comprehensive ethnicity data from palliative care patients.

This has empowered the team to identify where services are falling short and has also facilitated customising care for individual patients and their families.

Additionally, she spearheaded efforts to understand the perspectives of homeless individuals and those with learning disabilities.

This information has helped the team modify their support to better meet these patients' needs.

Furthermore, Satullo was instrumental in launching the recently initiated Patient Participation, Inclusion and Experience (PPIE) group for palliative and end of life care.

This group encourages feedback from patients, carers, and the public on the team's work to ensure the needs of the populations they serve are met.

Satullo co-operated extensively with both the wider Palliative Care team and members working with the RIPEL programme.

RIPEL, a collaboration of OUH, Sobell House Hospice Charity, Macmillan Cancer Support, and Social Finance, provides patients with a choice to die at home instead of hospital care.

In addition to Satullo's victory, other members of the wider Palliative Care team were nominated for awards, including Mary Walding, the Home Hospice Care Team, the RIPEL team, Charlotte Harrison, and Karen Dalton.

Ms Satullo said: "At the end of someone’s life we have one chance to get it right – everyone in our catchment that needs palliative care should be able to access it regardless of who they are, where they live, or the circumstances of their life.

"But we know too often, there are barriers that prevent people from accessing that care. I am thrilled to be honoured with this award, and thank the entire palliative medicine team as we continue to work together on improving equity."

Kerri Packwood, RIPEL programme manager at OUH, said: "Nicole’s work goes beyond data capture – her expertise and sensitivity in terms of patient experience have allowed us all to improve the care we provide to our patients."