21/01/2026
Rebekah Girling, Clinical Services Research Lead, is a finalist for the Impact Award at the Apprenticeships Norfolk Awards 2026, which is hosted by the Norfolk County Council.
With her nomination made by the UEA Business School, the awards celebrate the best of apprenticeships across the county, and the winners will be announced at a ceremony on 11 February to mark National Apprenticeship Week.
As a result of her L7 Senior Leaders Apprenticeship (SLA), Rebekah provides strategic leadership for research in our Trust across Allied Health Professions, Healthcare Science, Pharmacy and Psychology services. She oversees the development, delivery, governance and policy implementation for over 200 clinical trials, ensuring our research best supports patient care and service transformation.
The apprenticeship was funded by the NNUH Apprenticeships Levy.
Rebekah’s mentor for the apprenticeship, Tracey Fleming, NNUH Director of Allied Health Professionals and Healthcare Scientists, said: “The SLA strengthened Rebekah’s ability to influence organisational strategy, develop cross-sector partnerships and deliver measurable improvements in research performance, engagement and workforce development while promoting a culture of research excellence and continuous improvement, driving innovation across our care groups.
“She used her SLA to support the professional development of others by applying theory from her Leading and Managing People module to identify a gap in opportunities for non-medical staff to gain experience in research through the NIHR East of England Research Internship Scheme. This supported NNUH’s commitment to the CQC Well-Led framework and the NHS Advanced Practice Research pillar.”
Rebekah said: “I authored documents to support the NIHR East of England Research Internship that were then used regionally across the East of England and I set it up at the NNUH. My goal has always been to create the best experience for NNUH interns, helping to support them with documentation and presentations.
“I try my hardest to encourage people to consider how they could strengthen their research career – from interns, associate principal investigators, greenshoots, academic training, research delivery leadership and beyond.”
Rebekah has impacted the culture of research by creating pathways for nurses, midwives and other allied health practitioners to start research careers, including the development of the annual NNUH Research Café.
Rebekah added: “I created our Research Café to raise awareness of research opportunities for nursing, midwifery and clinical practitioners at NNUH and as a platform for sharing ideas, showcasing achievements and inspiring future clinical researchers.
“This was thankfully a huge success, with attendance exceeding expectations, and further uniting the non-medic research community, generating so far 12 new applications for research involvement from AHPs, nurses and midwives.
“One of my proudest achievements through the SLA has been mentoring a team member to help them progress from an apprentice radiology assistant to become the first staff member at NNUH accepted onto the Academy for Healthcare Science Accredited Register for Clinical Research Practitioners.”
