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.

Our April 2020 winner is:

Shagufta Dalal, Specialist Speech and Language Therapist, Cambridgeshire SLT

Shagufta received the following nomination from a parent showing the impact she's had on the family. 

“All NHS employees are amazing and touch our hearts in so many ways. My son was born premature at Hinchingbrooke and has received excellent care. Last year we found out he has a Chromosome Deletion. He has a global development delay in speech and language. Shagufta's involvement started late 2019. She came with a strategy and a plan and gave me some hope that my son would speak. Her positive professional attitude made me feel at ease. We made a plan! My aim was to hear my son’s voice. I had a list of questions and she answered them honestly. She didn't only work with me but also my son’s key worker and his teacher for the deaf (bilateral hearing loss). 

“Henry can now say 3 clear words! She really has made such an impression on my son and family. In such a short space of time she understands him. Some days he doesn't want to sit still or listen but she makes learning fun. He has the biggest smile and cheeky laugh when Shagufta visits. Henry starts school next year and I know having her in our team he will shine. She really is a shining star. My family and I will never be able to say a big enough thank you to Shagufta for believing in Henry. She is a NHS shining star and a bright one!”

Shagufta was also nominated by a colleague at Huntingdon Primary School, the nomination read as follows:

“Shagufta has been an absolute inspiration in reference to supporting our staff to meet the needs of our pupils on role presenting with SCLN needs. She has taken a whole school strategic view (taking into account the many pupils currently on the SALT caseload and previously discharged) and co-ordinated training/workshops for cohorts of staff resulting in staff greater depth of knowledge and the targeting of multiple pupils. During the Autumn-term Shagufta recognised in addition to pupils already on her caseload there were a number of pupils presenting with a high level of SCLN within our Early Year setting. She supported me and others with advice/strategies that could quickly be embedded and this resulted in EY staff feeling more skilled in understanding and targeting presenting needs (a decrease in staff stress) and pupils making progress: her advice contributed towards several APDR cycles and helped us identify pupils requiring swift referrals to SALT/Early Support/Paediatrics. 

“She has gone above and beyond on a daily basis for example she was aware within Inclusion that there was a year 2 pupil who was struggling to conform to expectations at lunchtimes - she mentioned using a visual dinner mat - when I shared that I would raise purchasing the widget programme at a forthcoming Inclusion meeting, she recognised that there would potentially be a delay in the strategy being implemented: she promptly made an appropriate resource and sent it to me. The same day it was successfully implemented. This simple but effective act of kindness decreased a repetitive cycle of reminders and led to him being successfully re-integrated back into the lunchtime routine. Shagufta is a credit to her profession.”

Shagufta’s third nomination comes from a colleague on behalf of another family she cares for:

“I have been supporting a mum and her child for a period of time and mum has some anxiety about her child's eating and their nursery has some concerns about the child's language and development. Mum reported she felt overwhelmed and anxious that something was wrong with her child due to other professionals’ comments. 

“It took a while to persuade mum to access support from speech and language but she did and she reports it is the best thing she ever did! At the drop in, Shagufta was there and she spent a period of time with the child observing them and also time listening to mum. Mum reported to me that she found Shagufta wonderful, considerate and felt she really understood how she felt and how to support her child. Shagufta not only offered her support with his language she also helped with his eating which is mum's main worry. Shagufta made mum feel at ease and more confident to support her child.”

Outstanding work Shagufta well done!

Other nominations this month included:

Vicky Brookes, Community TVN Lead Nurse, Luton

Vicky was nominated by Caroline Littler, for leading the TVN response during the corona virus pandemic. This has involved co-ordinating many services other than her own including podiatry, DN’s etc. This has required an in depth knowledge of how the other teams all overlap and how they can best support each other whilst ensuring safe care for the patients. Re-arranging all TVN clinic patients to ensure safe provision of care and release capacity in the service. An overview/review of all DN and podiatry patients and prioritising their care needs. 

She has provided education and stock to every care/nursing home in Luton to reduce the need to expose patients to further risk. She has sourced stock to enable every community nurse in Luton to have an adequate supply of dressings to improve patient care and reduce strain on pharmacies and GP surgeries. She has recognised, utilised and channelled her team's strengths, keeping them motivated and engaged. As importantly she has supported their physical and emotional wellbeing throughout these difficult times. Caroline said: “She has led with vision, compassion and tenacity but has always listened to and valued the opinions of others, at times giving over her entire life for the needs of others. What I have written about is merely what I am aware of but I am sure so much more has been going on that I am not aware of. I feel that she has indirectly saved many lives as a consequence of her actions.”

Sandra Proctor, Administrator, Luton Children's Community and Specialist Nursing at The Poynt

Sandra was nominated by Miranda Coles for being amazing and such a huge support to her team. Miranda said: “When two of us started working from home, Sandra was the only member of the admin team working in the office base full time. I know first-hand how challenging it can be getting everything done in normal circumstances, so for her to be doing everything she is right now whilst training new people, and with the added pressure, is outstanding. Some of it, she had only just learnt herself. 
“She is so dedicated to the team and always has such a cheerful disposition which really promotes positive morale amongst colleagues. She is an absolute joy to work with. I don't think she truly values what a massive asset she is to the whole team and has been for a long time. Her colleagues and I wanted to nominate her to say thank you for her on-going hard work, dedication and support. She really is a gem!”

Ruth McLaren, Senior Clinical Systems Analyst, St Ives

Ruth was nominated by Julie Hazell who said: “I would like to nominate Ruth for a shine a light award as although she works as part of an outstanding and supportive team who are amazing, Ruth deserves to be recognised for the incredible job she does supporting the services. No matter what is asked of Ruth, she is approachable and patient and happy to share her extensive knowledge with anyone. 
“She is a fantastic role model to others in her team and manages to be positive at work while juggling a very demanding home life but never complains. I think Ruth is an incredible asset to her team and to CCS for her outstanding effort and resilience and deserves huge recognition for what she does for us and her family every day.”

Julia Hallam-Seagrave, Nicola Jeffrey and Nicola Benton, Head of Dental Service, Dental Services Manager, Dental Nurse, Peterborough Dental Access Centre

Julia, Nicola and Nicola were nominated by Alyson Chastell for their outstanding care.  Alyson said: “As Nicola Jeffrey was leaving work after a very difficult and pressing day dealing with the current changes during the COVID-19 situation, she left from the back entrance of Peterborough Dental Access Centre. Whilst leaving Nicola Jeffrey unfortunately came across a young woman who had caused herself some harm to her wrists. Nicola immediately raised the alarm and Julia Hallam- Seagrave along with Nicola Benton responded. Nicola and Julia attended to the young woman's wounds whilst offering support and keeping her warm, as Nicola Jeffrey contacted the 111 Ambulance service. 

“Unfortunately the Ambulance service would not respond to the call so whilst Nicola Jeffrey was gaining some more information from the young woman i.e. where she would usually take shelter, Julia made contact with the Police service. Nicola Benton whom has recently completed and passed her First Responder Training level 3 bandaged the young ladies wrist and offered support which at times wasn't very easy as the woman was slightly aggravated. 

“All three ladies stayed with the young woman until the police arrived and handed her over safely to be taken care of. Julia made contact with the Police the following day to make sure the young woman was getting the correct care that she needed. I was able to witness the over and above care given by our team to the young woman both medically and personally. I am very proud to be part of our amazing team.”

Truly wonderful nominations this month showing our staff going above and beyond to support both the teams they work with and the families they care for – well done to everyone who was nominated.