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 winners for March 2018 are:

The Norfolk School Age Immunisation Team
(Lead Nurse - Bridget Cartwright; Staff Nurses – Philomena Goddard, Margot Smith, Rachel Simmons, Jill Cole, Sandra Laycock, Julie Notley, Angela Fletcher and Trudi Jones; HCAs - Zoe George and Paul Barry; Admin Lead – Jennifer Leveridge; Admin – Rebecca Sheriff’s, Deborah Clabburn, Kirsty Rutland, Shaun Pye, Shirley Ashby, Jane Warren and Sian Gladding; Bank Staff - Kym Jones, Sarah Bannon, Holly Boardman and Linda Algar.

The team were nominated by Philomena Goddard, School Age Immunisation Team Staff Nurse, for their Autumn term 2017 Flu campaign. The team added an extra 2 years to their cohort, vaccinating reception year and years 1, 2, 3 and 4. That is a cohort of 48,027 children.

Their target was 60% with the stretched target of 62% and they managed the amazing figure of 70%!

This was due to great planning, and tremendous team work between the nurses and admin staff.

They attained this figure by returning to each school to vaccinate children who had been absent that day or forgotten to return the form. This added an extra 2,600 children to be vaccinated.

In view of the terrible effect of the flu this year, they have been able to keep thousands more children, families, schools and communities protected from flu.
Huge congratulations to the team.

Other nominees this month included:

Joanne Brooks, Specialist Nurse for Safeguarding Children, Cambridgeshire
Joanne was nominated by Lorraine Thompsett, who is currently in her preceptorship year as a newly qualified health visitor. Lorraine has had some complex families to work with but one family in particular had been particularly hard. She spoke to Jo about her concerns and Jo just 'got it.’ She understood her concerns and gave her a detailed plan to follow and helped to guide her in her practice. As a result this family have now been stepped up and this child will now have a very different life, with opportunities as a result of this. 

Jo supported Lorraine, taught her, gave her confidence to listen to her gut feeling and got her through a very challenging time at such an early stage of her career. She made herself available to when it was obvious that her day was already challenging enough. Jo is an inspiration and Lorraine aspire’s to be as articulate and knowledgeable as her one day in her career. Thanks Jo, you're a star!

Sara Jackson, Dental Nurse, Brookfields Dental Department 

Sara was nominated by Jose Tucker, after she attended her son’s school to do an oral health talk as requested by the school. When she went to pick up her son after school it was lovey as she was over hearing children telling their parents about what they have learnt that day and how they need to change how they brush their teeth etc. She also received a message from her childminder telling her that her son loved having the lady from the dentist in today, and how much of an impact she has had on him. It has made her feel really lucky to work in a team with a person that has obviously made such a good impact on children to help improve their oral health.

Ellen Adler, Speech and Language Therapist, Cambridgeshire

Ellen was nominated by Lynne Millard, for working tirelessly with a family of a child who has a very complex medical history and complex communication needs. She has accompanied the family and child to a specialist appointment in London to enable them to get the correct intervention at the right time and has supported them throughout. This has not been without its challenges but Ellen has continued to provide the therapy required and received an email from the family as follows: 

“I just wanted to thank you for everything that you've done for our son and us this year. I know you feel progress is gradual, but for us it is like night and day. I remember that on our last holiday in April last year, he still couldn't say mum. This morning he said to me, “Mum, I want more cracker” with all of his sounds and without prompting! I remember thinking why parents wanted their children to be quiet, when I just wanted him to talk. But this morning, I did wish for just a moment, he would stop talking! 

“Yet, it is such a pleasure to watch him play with language, gradually changing sentences he has heard until they are entirely his own. I was so sorry that I could not share this with you as I imagine it must be frustrating to work with a child that doesn't talk to you. Or, perhaps this does not count as progress, but it sure makes a difference to our family life. We've felt really respected as parents and you've given us the benefit of the doubt in the past year and tried really hard to liaise with other professionals. We've not been treated like that by anyone in the NHS so far.” 

This is a testament to Ellen's dedication, professionalism and expertise. 

Leah Moors, Speech and Language Therapist, Cambridgeshire

Leah was nominated by Lynne Millard for being a valued and trusted member of the SLT team who regularly receives positive feedback from both staff and families. Below are two summaries of recent feedback:

“Words cannot express how grateful we are to you for helping our son to be understood and to speak well. He is a much happier and more confident boy now, he can now communicate with friends and no longer gets upset when someone hasn't understood him. He is an excellent talker now and we are delighted with the progress he has made! Thank you and he misses you already!” 

 “I’m not too sure if you’ll remember me, but throughout the early stages of my childhood and education (at Teversham Primary School) you would come in and have speech therapy sessions with me allowing me to be able to communicate with fellow peers, friends and even my own family. I am now in my third year of University at The University of Leeds, studying product design, on track for a first! Since achieving a placement at one of the top universities in the UK I have tried to search for a way to contact you and really thank you for the position you helped me get into by aiding me throughout my adolescents. Thankfully my mother ran into you recently and managed to obtain your email address for me which I am truly grateful for. With that being said I would like to thank you so much for helping me overcome my verbal dyspraxia as I would not be in the position I am in right now if it wasn’t for you, you have allowed me to have courage in conversations, be confident in meeting new people and progress to my full potential as a young adult.”

The above sums up what Leah does on a regular basis and she is an excellent role model to the whole countywide team.

Fiona Scarlett, Speech and Language Therapist, Cambridgeshire

Fiona was nominated by Lynne Millard, on behalf of the whole team following comments captured on Meridian from Dr Angharad Walters: “Fiona has created the content and has planned and delivered the 'Train the Trainers' sessions for the Cygnet parent course for parents of children with autism and similar difficulties. Her dedication to this despite difficult circumstances and ongoing participation in the delivery of the Cygnet course which I have observed is very beneficial for families.”
I would like to second the above and add that not only has Fiona taken on the above work with professionalism and enthusiasm, she has also recently taken on a new role as locality coordinator for East Cambs and is respected and liked by all her colleagues across the countywide service. Thanks Fiona.

Alison Chatfield, Children's Occupational Therapist, Oak Tree Centre, Huntingdon

Alison was nominated by Nicola Foreman, for effectively linking with parents, with acute services, with social care and with colleagues dealing with equipment as well as using her outstanding clinical reasoning to be able to make a difference to the young man and is family below:

“I would just like to say a huge thank you for X’s safe space bed. He has gone from 1-2 hours’ sleep a night to a full 10hrs. After 17 years of no sleep and having to stay with X throughout the night. The difference the bed has made in a week is fantastic. We no longer stay with him through the night. His behaviour has in improved 100% as he now gets enough sleep. I honestly cannot stress enough the improvement the bed has made it’s been absolutely fantastic. Allison I could actually kiss you, lol thank you so, so much.”

Children's Continuing Care Team, Transition Nurse and Children's Palliative Care Nurse, Luton Children's Community and Specialist Services

The team were nominated by Jo McDonnell for working very hard with their adult services providing a seamless transition into adult services. The young lady concerned has a palliative diagnosis and received 4 nights a week care from the CHC team as well as support from the Children's Palliative Nurse. The team worked with the adult Continuing Care lead to ensure the right care package was put in place prior to the young lady's 18th Birthday. To celebrate her birthday, her mum held a Birthday party inviting all the staff from children's services to thank them for all the care her daughter had received for the past 10 years.

School Nurse Assistants, Enuresis Team, 0-19 Healthy child programme Cambridgeshire
(Gina Bishop, Jen Wagner, Sarah Murfitt, Pauline Stallabrass, Sam Arts and Tess Bakewell) 

The team were nominated by Michelle McKenzie for their excellent attitude, work ethics, care and concern for the young people they support and for supporting her through a sensitive restructure of their role. The school nurse assistants have been through a very radical restructure of their roles and their jobs since the move to a 0-19 HCP service. They have been very unfortunate to lose several school nurses during this restructure but the SNA’s have been stoic throughout the changes. They have always remained professional with the care of young people at the forefront of their actions. 

They have been a pleasure to work with; they have redesigned their role and the enuresis service which they are very passionate about. They have been integral to reshaping the service they can offer giving ideas, thoughts and opinions at every step of the process. They have remained professional even when decisions have been made that they have not agreed with asking for rationales and offering alternative ideas. They now have an enuresis service which is working well and they are able to support young people with other issues which include: behaviour, anxiety, eating, bullying, sleep and many more. They are about to be a part of the Chathealth launch and will be going to local schools and meeting with children and sharing the Chathealth service with them. 

Alice Wynn, Speech and Language Therapist, St Neots

Alice was nominated by a family who wanted to acknowledge the difference that she has made in supporting both their sons – one who has speech, hearing and communication difficulties (aged 10) and one who was born with a cleft palate (aged 8). The first son has had 7 operations on his ears and has struggled with hearing and communication since the age of 2. Their second son needed lots of speech support when he was younger due to his cleft. 

They have been seen by lots of different professionals but Alice stands out above the rest because of the care, compassion and understanding she shows. In particular to their first son, who has come to know Alice and speaks very highly of her! Alice will always find the time to talk to her about all her concerns with both their children, and is honest, kind and very informative and knowledgeable. She has been a rock of support when they did not know where else to turn. “We doubt she is aware of the invaluable support she has given us over the years, but I hope if she were to win this award it would go some way to show her how much we have appreciated and valued her hard work and support. We thank her from the bottom of our hearts!”

Huge congratulations to everyone who was nominated this month!