Trish Gnribaldinos inspires the awards confidence of all the patients and the patients and staff she comes into contact with. One of her patients, the late Paul Eddington, praised her unit in his autobiography. Lynne Wallis talked to her about the work which has won her the Nurse 96 Dermatology Nursing Award, sponsored by Leo Pharmaceuticals

TRISH GARIBALDINOS has headed The Dowling Day Treatment Unit at St John’s Institute of Dermatology in London since it opened in 1990. Trish and her team of eight treat people who suffer from skin diseases such as psoriasis, eczema, vitiligo and skin cancers. They see about 130 people every day, some of whom are inpatients at St Thomas’s, where the treatment unit is based, and others who travel to have ultraviolet light treatment or ointments applied to their skin. Patients with T-cell lymphomas are given photochemotherapy. Previously, many of these outpatients would have had to have been admitted for inpatient care. Attending a day centre means they are able to hold down jobs.