MBE honour for Gary O'Hare
Gary O’Hare, NSFT’s Board Level Governance and Safety Advisor, has been made an MBE for his services to mental health and learning disabilities in the NHS.
Gary, who has been working with NSFT to improve services after the Learning from Deaths report, has been with the NHS for 43 years, most recently as chief nurse and chief operating officer at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
He retired from the Trust in March 2023, and joined the North East Ambulance Service in May 2023 as a non-executive director.
Gary said, “it just felt amazing when I got a letter in the post saying I’d been recognised in the King’s birthday honours list. I feel so privileged and humbled to have been nominated.
“I thought I had already hit the pinnacle of my career after receiving the Chief Nursing Officer for England Gold Medal award back in 2021.”
In November, Gary had his investiture at Windsor Castle. He received his MBE from HRH the Prince of Wales. Gary said: “It was one of the most exciting and unforgettable days me and my family have ever had – a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Gary said a career move from the building trade into nursing was “the best decision I’ve ever made in my life”.
“Looking after people when they’re at their greatest need is probably the most rewarding career anybody can work in, and I would recommend it to anybody.”
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