THREE health professionals have received New Year’s Honours.

Tracey Cooper, of Coleford, was awarded the OBE, Wye Valley GP Dr Rowena Christmas was honoured with the MBE and Dr Marion Andrews-Evans has received the British Empire Medal.

Dr Cooper, the Chief Executive of Public Health Wales, was honoured for her contribution to healthcare and public health.

The purpose of Public Health Wales is to protect and improve health and wellbeing through functions such as screening programmes and advising on public health programmes.

Dr Christmas has been a GP with the Wye Valley practice, which has surgeries at St Briavels and Trellech, for 25 years and chairs the Royal College of GPs in Wales.

She received the MBE for services to General Practice.

““I think that citation is the best bit about it," she said "I’ve worked in my practice in Trellech for 25 years and I know my patients very well and general practice is what I’m passionate about.

“When we do our jobs well we can treat patients closer to home, reduce hospital admissions and take pressure off the NHS.”

As chair of the representative body for Welsh GPs for the past three years, Dr Christmas, who lives with husband Gavin and their two sons in Trellech, said she has done a lot of work on helping safeguard the vulnerable and supporting children back to school following the pandemic.

"An increasing number of children are struggling to leave their homes, said Dr Christmas.

“That is something that has really changed since the pandemic, there are far more children not able to go into school for a range of reasons and they are more likely to be children from more deprived backgrounds who do not necessarily have bedrooms full of books or parents able to be there for them, and they are often entitled to free school meals, so there may not be food in the house. They are very vulnerable.”

Dr Christmas said she eceiving a “big letter from the Cabinet Office that made my heart go up”.

Dr Marion Andrews-Evans, who lives near in the Forest near Chepstow has been awarded the British Empire Medal for services to healthcare and nursing.

Dr Andrews Evans was the Executive nurse for NHS Gloucestershire for more than a decade, until December 2023, and has since been supporting research, development and vaccinations in the county.

With more than 40 years of nursing experience, Marion was nominated by the local community for her work to support the health of people living in Gloucestershire.

She said: “Working with a great team we have consistently delivered the highest uptake rates for Covid and flu vaccinations in England, and this is something the whole county can be proud of.

“I’m delighted and proud to have been recognised for my contribution to nursing and healthcare in Gloucestershire.

“I hope that over the years I have worked in the county, I have made a small difference to the lives of local people and the staff providing our services.”