Miss Jyoti Shah awarded MBE in The King's New Year's Honours
A University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust (UHDB) consultant surgeon has been awarded an MBE for Service to Medicine in the King’s New Year’s Honours in acknowledgement of her outstanding career and work in the screening and diagnosis of thousands of prostate cancer patients in the community.
Miss Jyoti Shah, a Macmillan Consultant Urological Surgeon who has worked in the NHS for 26 years, has been providing care for patients with prostate cancer and other urological conditions around the country, including providing free to attend screening clinics to men in the community.
Her work includes establishing a ‘one-stop’ clinic for patients with suspected prostate cancer, with a rapid turnaround time of three days for benign results and seven days for confirmed cancer diagnosis to enable prompt access to treatment for patients. This was acknowledged as ‘excellent’ by Cancer Research UK.
In 2016, Jyoti launched the ‘Inspire Health’ community campaign ‘Fighting Prostate Cancer’, giving up her own time to offer men free prostate screening in their local communities outside of a hospital setting, such as at local football stadiums, community centres and places of religious worship. To date, the programme has screened more than 2,800 men and diagnosing 90 cases of prostate cancer which were otherwise undetected.
Find out more about Jyoti's 'Fighting Prostate Cancer' community work here (opens in new window) >
Jyoti qualified in 1996 from Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School and first began working at Queen’s Hospital Burton in 2008, where she has since gone on to develop innovative new pathways for patients with suspected and confirmed prostate cancer.
Jyoti has also hosted a series of informative webinars in Asian languages during the pandemic to help dispel misinformation about Covid-19 and the vaccination programme as well as webinars on breaking down the stigma of men’s health in local communities.
Jyoti has authored six books and has worked with charities and voluntary groups to encourage more women to pursue careers in surgery and medicine. She has edited several journals, provided postgraduate tutoring to students in the UK and abroad, has received six clinical excellence awards – and a personal letter of thanks from Queen Elizabeth II for producing a souvenir book for the Medical Women’s Federation documenting the careers of 80 female doctors.
On being named in the New Year’s Honours List, Jyoti said: “I am overwhelmed to be receiving an MBE, it is incredibly exciting, and I feel so proud. But so many people have helped in this journey, and I would like to thank all of them.
“My parents moved to the UK from India in 1961 and we did not have much when we were growing up - nobody in my family had ever really had university education before. As a young girl, the idea of becoming a doctor one day was a pipedream so to do this job every day is a dream come true. Now, to be recognised this way for my work, is indescribable.
“I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to my colleagues who put me forward for this prestigious honour.”
Dr James Crampton, Interim Executive Medical Director at UHDB, said: “I am delighted and incredibly proud of Jyoti and all the amazing work she has done and continues to do for our patients and communities; not just here in Derbyshire and Staffordshire, but on a national and global scale through her tutoring and educational roles.
“Jyoti’s selfless nature is epitomised by her voluntary work providing prostate screening in the community, and she has undoubtedly saved lives through her work. She has gained the trust, respect and friendship of so many colleagues across the organisation and beyond and has a naturally compassionate way with patients that makes them feel special. She always remembers the little details that make such a difference, such as asking how their holiday was or how their partner is, making them feel recognised as a whole person and not simply a patient.”
UHDB Chief Executive, Stephen Posey, added his congratulations: “Jyoti absolutely epitomises our Trust values of Openness, Excellence and Compassion, and the Trust is incredibly proud to see her talent and work recognised through this thoroughly deserved MBE.”