by
Kirstie Flack
| Apr 27, 2018
This award is an opportunity for patients, families, visitors and Trust colleagues to say ‘thank you – you made a difference’ to a member of staff or a team for anything (however small!) that helped make their experience of our services better.
The winner for April 2018 is:
Marian Courtney, At Home First Co-ordinator, Luton Adult Nursing
Marian was nominated by the brother of one of her patients for the huge difference she made to a very difficult time. She provided an invaluable interface between him and the various care organisations he was in contact with. She kept up-to-date with the GP and hospital and never failed to feed the information back to him. Marian became the one person he could go to for help when things became difficult for him to cope with.
He said: “Marian comes across as someone who really cares and this is apparent from the outset. She has an empathy that is so difficult to come by and has just the right balance of this and professionalism. She always kept me updated and always did what she said she was going to do. Marian was also valued by my late sister.
“My sister had nothing but good things to say about Marian when all other parts of the care system became a challenge to her. Understandably, the NHS as a whole is creaking under the weight of cuts and the sheer enormity of the population who require care and Marian was the one person who made it all work. So a big thank you to Marian and all of the team who made the last months of my sister’s life bearable in very trying times. The guys on the phone were amazing!”
Huge congratulations to Marian.
Other nominees this month included:
Ruth Hughes, Recruitment & Training Administrator, Luton Children's Community Services
Ruth was nominated by Lorraine Foster, for working tirelessly in her role as Recruitment and Training administrator to assist in undertaking the recruitment process to find three more members of staff. Throughout every step Ruth worked hard to make sure the process ran smoothly and dealt with challenges they faced with a positive attitude. No request was too much and her communication with Lorraine and the team throughout was invaluable. Thanks to all her hard work they have now recruited the staff they needed.
Amy Jackson, Becky Morris, Debbie Chandler, Dave Swan, Andrew Rose, Kamal Ahmed, Geraldine Byrne and Lorraine Edwards, Transition, ICT and Estates
Anne Foley nominated the team for working well together, on a project managed by Amy, to make the move to the new Peacock Centre a success and as painless as possible. The ICT team offered individual user acceptance testing on every single machine the person could use (including in the clinic rooms), they managed the building set up, snagging, signage, sorted out where everyone was sitting, inducted them into the mysteries of hot desking and have generally been fabulous. They have sorted out the archiving of innumerable files and moved 70+ staff from at least 4 bases. Well done all!
Samantha Parkin, Clinical Support, Community Paediatrics, Cambridgeshire
Samantha was nominated by Lucy Wright for going above and beyond her call of duty during their move to the Peacock Centre. She helped organise the archiving of thousands of child health files and implemented a new filing system, organised their team of consultants to pack up their offices and get them to their IT configuration slots, has been helpful and incredibly knowledgeable to anyone who had a question/query about the move, overseen the rebranding of documents to include the new address, organised for all of the clinics to be successfully booked in at the Centre and all this whilst still doing her day job. She definitely deserves some recognition!
Jackie Atwell, and Caroline Cooper, Health Advisor and Associate Specialist, iCaSH, Wisbech
Jackie and Caroline were nominated by one of their patients for their incredible support and for making them feel at ease, relaxed and safe. Jackie made the patient instantly relax and on a recent visit the patient went in for an implant removal consultation and the procedure needed was a deep implant removal. The clinic was fully booked until May but Jackie along with help from the receptionist Trudy rang through to other clinics to double check if they had the facilities. In the end, they contacted Caroline directly and Trudy called to say the patient was booked in the following week. Caroline was fantastic and she could see straight away that this patient was nervous and professionally joked with them to make feel at ease. She explained everything thoroughly, made them feel calm, looked after and reassured them. The fact that they now know they can continue the next 3 years without the worry of the possibility of getting pregnant makes them feel content and is one less thing to stress about. The patient said: “I cannot thank your team at iCaSH enough. They have always been great but this to me really showed that they genuinely care about the individuals. It's not just a job and they will go out of their way to make sure people are seen to. I know there are a lot of cuts throughout the NHS but I really hope they don't cut back on iCaSH. We need women like Jackie and Caroline, who truly care and look after us!
Nicola Arnup, Health Visitor, City 2 Norfolk HCP
Marie Balfour nominated Nicola after she quickly responded and stepped in to help a mother who had gone into labour alone and had just delivered her baby without midwifery support. She offered immediate care to the mother and the new born and ensured that an ambulance was called and prompt midwifery care was sort. Her actions were key in ensuring the safety and well-being of both.
Sylvia Hughes, Staff Nurse, SCBU, Hinchingbrooke Hospital
The mother of a little boy Sylvia was looking after nominated her for going above and beyond for their family. She’s taught the mother how to be a mum again; she was a shoulder to cry on and taught her the best way to care for her baby born 6 weeks early.
Real Mugomba, Deputy Sister, SCBU, Hinchingbrooke Hospital
Real was nominated by the father of a little boy who was born at 34 weeks. Real was one of the nurses caring for him. She taught the family how to tube feed and gave them constant reassurance and always brought a smile to their faces.
Huge congratulations to everyone who was nominated this month!