Action Cancer Celebrates RCN Northern Ireland Nurse of the Year Award 2025

Action Cancer, Northern Ireland’s leading local cancer charity, is delighted to announce that its Skin Cancer Specialist Nurses Iona McCormack and Roisin Hill have won the Royal College of Nursing Nurse of the Year Award 2025 in the “Digital and Data Innovation in Nursing” category.

The Digital and Data Innovation in Nursing Award, sponsored by Digital Health and Care NI, was awarded to Iona and Roisin for together developing a skin cancer photo triage e-referral pathway that has delivered a gold-standard screening service across Northern Ireland.

The charity’s Skin Cancer Detection Service is for people concerned about a new or changing skin lesion and is an alternative to the service available in most GP practices in Northern Ireland, increasing choice and accessibility.

Action Cancer’s Skin Cancer Detection Service offers a two-stage process. Concerned members of the public, who meet the service eligibility criteria, are offered in the first instance a virtual assessment with a Skin Cancer Specialist Nurse.

If the Specialist Nurse feels that further assessment is needed, then a face-to-face appointment is offered on board an upcoming visit by the charity’s mobile unit, the Big Bus (supported by SuperValu and Centra), which visits all five HSC Trust areas across Northern Ireland twice every four weeks or at Action Cancer House in Belfast.

Following the face-to-face appointment, the experienced and trained skin cancer Dermatology Nurses will refer on to Dermatology for further assessment if a skin cancer is confirmed or suspected, using the Department of Health dermatology photo triage referral pathway.

Since the service was launched in May 2023, it has provided over 4,500 consultations, identified more than 300 suspected skin cancer lesions, and offered comprehensive assessments to over 3,100 patients—many of whom were safely discharged with reassurance and advice.

The judging panel commended how this new way of working has resulted in more effective triaging and diagnosis of skin cancer, adding the outcome for patients is improved experience and efficiency in their onward referral, if required. The fact that the service can go on the road via the Big Bus also means they are reaching people who may find it difficult to avail of treatment and care.

Iona McCormack, Senior Skin Cancer Specialist Nurse who heads up the service said: “This award is a great personal honour for myself and Roisin and superb recognition for the whole of Team Action Cancer involved in developing and implementing our Skin Cancer Detection Service.”

Roisin Hill, Skin Cancer Specialist Nurse added: “I am honoured and delighted for us to receive the award as part of a bigger team effort at Action Cancer. We can see the effect the service is having in saving lives throughout Northern Ireland through early skin cancer detection.”

For further information on the Skin Cancer Detection Service, please visit the Action Cancer website www.actioncancer.org