Robyn Darby
June 2025
Robyn
Darby
,
Nurse
The Slade House
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
Oxford
United Kingdom
Thanks mainly to her, our son can now feel secure in his own house where he can live with dignity, close to home and in familiar surroundings, with 24-hour support from trained staff who forward his well-being and happiness through increasing independence.
It is our pleasure to nominate Robyn for being a truly inspiring nurse. She has made a life-saving difference to our adult son, who is on the high-functioning autistic spectrum. As a family, we owe to her personally the rescue of our son from 4 years of hopeless misery in completely unsuitable out-of-county care homes where he was facing a probable future life of loneliness and dependence.
We believe that Robyn was the first person really to listen to our son as an individual. Robyn gives everyone she meets her full attention, compassion, and positive acceptance, treating them with true respect and honesty. Our son trusted her from the first and saw in her a friend in a hostile world. We believe that this certainty that someone cared and knew what was wrong sustained our son through some very traumatic experiences.
For us as parents, Robyn was equally a lifesaver. Her deep concern validated our anxiety, and we felt we were not alone and unheard. Her quiet certainty and unvarying positive focus convinced us that she at least knew what would make up a good support provision for the patient, and that it was attainable.
When our son was first diagnosed on the ASD spectrum at the age of 32, after wasted years in and out of inappropriate mental health wards, there was no provision in Oxfordshire for high-functioning autistic individuals with complex needs. The administrative staff was forced to make the least-worst decision and send our son out of the county.
Robyn made it her responsibility to create the missing local provision for our son. She started the process in 2019 when our son was in a care home. She continued the process while he was in another care home, visiting him there during the lockdown. She ultimately achieved her goal through successive approximations in February 2024.
Thanks mainly to her, our son can now feel secure in his own house where he can live with dignity, close to home and in familiar surroundings, with 24-hour support from trained staff who forward his well-being and happiness through increasing independence. At last, after 20 years of being misunderstood in mental health wards and care homes, our son can again look forward with hope to a meaningful future.
To create a successful support environment for our son, Robyn must have convinced administrators and commissioners to trial this patient-centred approach to autistic people. In doing so, she has shown incredible tenacity and determination.
No one can doubt that Robyn is a master of her field. She knows her stuff. She has read the books and done the courses. Now she 'writes the books' and teaches the courses! Her intellectual grasp of the subject is formidable, but her understanding of the people she works with comes from empathy and perceptiveness more than from theory. She deeply understands and respects the special qualities of autistic people and the special difficulties they encounter.
However, it is Robyn's vision that we would point to. She has done great things for our family, but she wants just as much for thousands across the country.
We believe that Robyn was the first person really to listen to our son as an individual. Robyn gives everyone she meets her full attention, compassion, and positive acceptance, treating them with true respect and honesty. Our son trusted her from the first and saw in her a friend in a hostile world. We believe that this certainty that someone cared and knew what was wrong sustained our son through some very traumatic experiences.
For us as parents, Robyn was equally a lifesaver. Her deep concern validated our anxiety, and we felt we were not alone and unheard. Her quiet certainty and unvarying positive focus convinced us that she at least knew what would make up a good support provision for the patient, and that it was attainable.
When our son was first diagnosed on the ASD spectrum at the age of 32, after wasted years in and out of inappropriate mental health wards, there was no provision in Oxfordshire for high-functioning autistic individuals with complex needs. The administrative staff was forced to make the least-worst decision and send our son out of the county.
Robyn made it her responsibility to create the missing local provision for our son. She started the process in 2019 when our son was in a care home. She continued the process while he was in another care home, visiting him there during the lockdown. She ultimately achieved her goal through successive approximations in February 2024.
Thanks mainly to her, our son can now feel secure in his own house where he can live with dignity, close to home and in familiar surroundings, with 24-hour support from trained staff who forward his well-being and happiness through increasing independence. At last, after 20 years of being misunderstood in mental health wards and care homes, our son can again look forward with hope to a meaningful future.
To create a successful support environment for our son, Robyn must have convinced administrators and commissioners to trial this patient-centred approach to autistic people. In doing so, she has shown incredible tenacity and determination.
No one can doubt that Robyn is a master of her field. She knows her stuff. She has read the books and done the courses. Now she 'writes the books' and teaches the courses! Her intellectual grasp of the subject is formidable, but her understanding of the people she works with comes from empathy and perceptiveness more than from theory. She deeply understands and respects the special qualities of autistic people and the special difficulties they encounter.
However, it is Robyn's vision that we would point to. She has done great things for our family, but she wants just as much for thousands across the country.