The College is delighted to announce that the winner of the Percy Lane Oliver Memorial Award 2023 (TM Nursing Category) is Joanne Tossell, for her outstanding contribution to blood transfusion medicine.

The standard of applications was extremely high this year, and after much deliberation the panel awarded the prize to Joanne Tossell. She was presented with her award at the BBTS Conference held in October.

Joanne Tossell is a Nurse Consultant, Clinical Microbiology at NHS Blood & Transplant (NHSBT) and is the first nurse to be trained in the speciality. She is now leading a team of nurses managing the care of infected donors and investigations into recipients of possibly infected blood. Joanne is proud that being a nurse has enabled her to make a positive impact on both donors and recipients.

History of The Percy Lane Oliver Memorial Award

Percy Lane Oliver won international renown for creating, as a member of the Camberwell Division of the Red Cross, the world’s first voluntary blood donor service in 1921. The Oliver Memorial Fund was established in 1944, following his death, to perpetuate his memory and to, 'uphold the principle of voluntary blood donation; give public recognition to both professional and lay people who have made an outstanding contribution to the Science, Practice or Administration of Blood Transfusion; and ensure that the name and work of Percy Lane Oliver is recorded in medical history.'

In 2001, the Royal College of Pathologists took over the task of administering the Oliver Memorial Fund through Annual Awards to recognise achievements in transfusion medicine. The review process is overseen by the Transfusion Medicine Specialty Advisory Committee.