Community Nurse attends Reception at Buckingham Palace with His Majesty The King

Noor Ul Haq, Registered Nurse and Pastoral Support Lead at Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust (LCH) attended a reception hosted by His Majesty The King at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday 14 November.

The event, on the King’s birthday, celebrated 75 years of the NHS. It highlighted the contribution of Nurses and Midwives (notably International Nurses and Midwives) working in the UK’s Health and Social Care Sector over the decades. Each regional chief nurse was asked to nominate 25 people and Noor attended as part of a group of staff from the North East and Yorkshire region.

Noor said “It is a great honour for me to represent LCH at a Royal reception. I am proud and thankful for this high appreciation I received due to my work for international nurses. It was a wonderful experience to meet His Highness and attend the reception.”

Noor who lives in Bradford with his family, completed his nursing diploma from Liaquat National Post Graduate Medical Centre Karachi in Pakistan in 2000. In 2015, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Ras Al Khaimah Medical and Health Sciences University in the United Arab Emirates, followed by a master’s degree in leadership and management.

He has 23 years of nursing experience across a range of fields. He began his career working as a Neurosurgery Nurse in Pakistan and then spent seventeen years in the Middle East, working as a Nurse in Neurosurgery, Spinal Surgery, Orthopaedic and General and Plastic Surgery. In 2020 he moved to the UK and joined the health and social care sector working as a nurse in care homes.

Noor joined Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust in 2022 as a Skills Trainer, delivering training to Neighbourhood Care Assistants. Noor now works as a Registered Nurse and is the Pastoral Support Lead for the Trust, working closely with the Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) supporting them in their nursing journey and with living in the UK.

Steph Lawrence MBE, Executive Director of Nursing and Allied Health Professionals at Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust and fellow Queen’s Nurse, celebrated Noor saying, “I am delighted that Noor has been given this opportunity to have his fantastic work recognised. As an overseas nurse himself, the way he supports our new recruits from overseas is just fantastic and we are so lucky to have him working within our organisation. He is a wonderful colleague, and this is wonderful recognition of his brilliant work.”