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 July 2020 winners are:

Leila Daniel and Sue Jermy, Deputy Named Nurse Adult Safeguarding and Pharmacy Technician, Luton

Kirsten Clarke nominated Leila and Sue for the outstanding care they showed to a Polish gentleman who is homeless. 

This gentleman was thought to live in a tent in a disused car park. He had recently become unwell, found collapsed and admitted to hospital where he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. The treatment for which is anticoagulant therapy to prevent blood clotting in the heart, where it’s not being efficiently pumped from the left atrial chamber. 

Mr R had lived in England for several years but was not settled and had no recourse to public funds. He did not speak or read English well, so had difficulty understanding what was required of him and to read the medication labeling. Concerns were first raised following his attendance for his Flu Jab at a local homeless support centre. Sue remembered the patient from the previous year and noticed he looked unwell and had lost weight. He had recently been discharged from hospital and was required to self-administer an oral anticoagulant. He was only given a limited supply and would have to obtain a repeat prescription for further medication. It is required that the patient be registered at a GP surgery in order for regular blood testing to ensure the dosage is correct and to obtain further prescriptions. He was not registered at a GP so was unable to have the blood test or obtain a repeat prescription. 

Sue’s professional curiosity helped identify that the patient was running low on the anticoagulant and was therefore only administering half the required dose to “prolong his supply”. He was also unable to have accurate dosing due to lack of blood testing for International Normalised Ratio (INR), a test to measure how quickly his blood would clot. A referral was made to the local authority safeguarding team. The CCS safeguarding team were made aware of the concern and the outcome from the safeguarding referral to the local authority was for the patient to liaise with his GP. The local authority team misunderstood that the patient was registered with a GP as he was accessing an outreach GP at the homeless centre. This was not a registering GP service and did not offer ongoing medical support to clients. The safeguarding team felt that the outcome did not support the patient adequately in obtaining his blood tests and medication. 

There were a number of communications between CCS and the local authority to try and support this gentleman, however, there were challenges in the support that could be offered due to him having no recourse to public funds, not being registered with a GP and being unable to access housing services. He was also an infrequent visitor to the homeless centre and it proved difficult at times to track him down. CCS was further advised that the patient’s tent had also been removed by the police and this increased the patient’s vulnerabilities as he had no shelter during the winter months. 

After several further conversations with the local authority the team were advised that they should refer him to the complex case meeting. At this meeting it was suggested that Vulnerable Adults Risk Assessment Conference (VARAC) would be the most appropriate meeting to take the case. However, in the meantime several agencies agreed if found, to discuss with him what support he could access. This included one of the CCS pharmacy technicians, who volunteers at the homeless service at times. The VARAC referral was duly made. The case was heard, the conclusion being that as he had no recourse to public funds and was not well enough to work to support himself financially and the conclusion from the meeting was for the patient to be repatriated. 

The CCS safeguarding team were unhappy with this decision and were not assured that his complex medical and critical medication needs would be met if he was repatriated. They were also concerned as to any personal risk if he repatriated as we were unaware of the patient’s reasons for fleeing his country of origin. Following the conclusion from the VARAC meeting the CCS safeguarding team felt that the patient’s risk to his health remained. The team explored the further option of referral back to the local complex case meeting where the patient’s case was again discussed with various members of the MDT. It was agreed if he was found, emergency funds would be available to provide temporary accommodation; until a bed became available in the Homeless Assessment Rapid Resettlement Pathway (HARRP). 

After several weeks he was located and housed temporarily. Following support from his new allocated worker and his interpreter from the homeless service he was now registered with a GP and was having all medical reviews and prescribed medication. A recent update from HARRP advised that he has been granted settled status and was supported by Ella’s Project within the homeless centre to secure privately rented accommodation. Ella’s Project is a group to support people with no recourse to public funds - to help them get back in to work/training with the end goal of them finding accommodation or possibly reconnecting to their country of origin. 

The support that was finally offered to him has greatly reduced the risk to his health, particularly if he had been homeless over the period of the Covid 19 pandemic. He is no longer homeless and can be supported in moving on to the next stage of his life as a permanent UK resident with access to funds, accommodation and health support. 

Kirsten said: “This was a complex case with many difficulties in obtaining the support the gentleman required. These ranged from the confusion of GP registration to the assumption that repatriation was the only option for the patient. Due to this gentleman being homeless and speaking limited English, it was more difficult to contact him opportunistically. It proved even more difficult to locate him for several weeks, once they had identified a temporary solution (due to his tent being removed). Third sector partners were hugely supportive with the case once they were aware of it and often went above what would be expected in supporting him. This case highlights the importance of professional curiosity and how the outcome could have been very different if Sue had not identified the patient’s vulnerabilities.”

At the time of the case Leila Daniel was new into post (approx. 4 months) and was still learning the safeguarding landscape. She was aware that a multidisciplinary approach is necessary and is one of the 6 principles of safeguarding. She had no knowledge or experience of the processes, meetings or pathways at the time and was at times met with delays and barriers. Kirsten said: “Leila felt strongly that this gentleman’s voice was not being heard and continued to be at risk. Her tenacity, diligence and hard work have resulted in a really positive change for him. He is no longer in a very vulnerable position by living on the streets and is safe in permanent accommodation with his health needs being met. 

“This gentleman would have been completely unaware of the efforts both Leila and Sue were making on his behalf and were certainly not doing so for any recognition. I feel they are both his unsung heroes and deserve the acknowledgement that even when you feel the work you are doing is challenging, it can pay great rewards with really positive outcomes.”

Well done both, what a fantastic nomination.

Other nominations this month included:

Thomas O'Connor, Senior Dentist - Dental Healthcare, Brookfield’s 

Thomas was nominated by Jose Tucker and the dental team at Brookfield’s for going above and beyond during the Covid Pandemic, to support and keep safe both staff members and patients. They said: “Thomas has been dedicated and selfless with working alongside AGP's within a dental surgery where most nurses were anxious to be within the exposure. Thomas was excellent at protecting staff from over exposure. Thomas has shown a lot of emotional support to patients reassuring them via the telephone and offering advice and support to emergency patients, special care patients and all staff. He has made it very clear that you can approach him at any time of day with concerns or just need supporting. 

"He has kept the morale high amongst all fellow staff members and always has a can do attitude and such a positive outlook.  It has been a pleasure to work alongside him during difficult times and it is hard to put into words how dedicated Thomas has been during this time.”

Dawn Cooper, Clinic Nurse Manager, iCaSH Cambridge

Dawn was nominated by Sabrina Tucker for being “the most kind, caring and compassionate line manager I have ever had. She goes above and beyond for her staff and patients and nothing is ever too much trouble. We are all so grateful to her for all her hard work and support and we feel that she really deserves this award.” 

Angus Taylor, Physiotherapist, DynamicHealth, Brookfield’s

Angus was nominated by Eleanor McNally as throughout the pandemic Angus nominated himself to be the social guru for the Cambridge and Ely teams. Eleanor said: “He has researched games and quizzes for us all to play and created a 'getting to know you' form called 'Lockdown Lowdown' which enabled team members to share a bit about themselves on our weekly cross-site catch ups/check ins. He has kept everyone in high spirits and smiles on their faces during this difficult time. Not forgetting that he enlisted his Nana to bake scones for us all and other baked goods. He has gone above and beyond for morale.”

Laura Cornwell and Hayley Readshaw, Nursery Nurses, New Horse Fair Clinic, Wisbech

Deborah Myring nominated Laura and Hayley for being absolutely amazing with supporting her with Liquid Logik. Deborah said: “This has been through teams with guidance to information / phone calls and showing me how to use the system and emailing the early help hub with some of my issues.”

Naomi Hodson, Senior Physiotherapist, MSK DynamicHealth, Cambridge

Joanna Lowe nominated Naomi for developing a daily 30 minute teaching session during the lockdown period, providing in depth education on MSK topics. Joanna said: “The format, including lectures, journal reviews, case studies and quizzes reinforces the learning for staff members. She has spent time at home researching topics and has encouraged other staff members to share their expertise. This has been rolled out across the county via teams, with excellent feedback from staff. It has ensured we have enhanced our clinical knowledge whilst the service has been disrupted. She has significantly contributed to the morale of the staff, adding to our productivity and providing cohesion across the service, through daily contact across the patch. We will come out of this crisis with a more knowledgeable staff and an improved sense of being part of the wider team of MSK physiotherapists.” 

Kerry Smee, Nursery Nurse, 0-19 HCP South Locality, Cambridgeshire

Kerry was nominated by Skyler Moulder for her fantastic can-do, positive attitude. Skyler said: “Kerry has always provided support to her team members, however, in the last few weeks Kerry has really gone "above and beyond" for the team and the service. She helped me to set up a Weigh Clinic for the health visitors to ensure we can see and assess new born babies. This involved a few trips to the clinic to ensure the site was Covid-friendly (printing, laminating and displaying the correct signage, tidying and reorganising furniture etc.). 

"Kerry is making herself available during the clinic times to ensure that health visitors have support during appointments. She has also supported the health visitors (under their supervision) by travelling to carry out weight assessments when they have not been able to. This meant that parents with vulnerable babies did not have to leave their homes and was very reassuring for them. Kerry has completed the training and implementation of the new Attend Anywhere system. She has been successfully completing Attend Anywhere appointments with families and she has shared her learning and training with the team, which has helped to build their confidence and uptake of the new way of working. Kerry is a real asset to the team and her actions have not gone unnoticed.” 

Linda Masterson. Unicef Baby Friendly Co-ordinator and the Health Visiting Assistants from the 0-19 teams - Jackie Wild, Jan Hampshire, Lillian Rafiq, Gajender Purba, Fatema Haque, Kiranjeet Barath, Kaneez Hussain, Nadia Parveen, and Zeenat Ahmed. 

Linda and the team support new mothers with breast feeding. They were nominated by Jane Paris for being amazing during the lock down and coping with the more restricted way they have needed to work due to Covid-19. Jane said: “They have embraced the use of increased phone contacts and video assessments and are using this with mothers to support feeding.” Below are two examples of recent praise for two members of the team: 

“Zeenat was allocated a three week old baby who has a diagnosis of cleft lip. This baby is under the specialist team at Addenbrooke's and they would normally offer specialist feeding support but due to Covid 19 they have been unable to visit the family. Mum really wanted to breast feed and her first language is Romanian. Zeenat attempted to call mum via AccuRx and invite an interpreter in but this didn't happen due to technical issues. So Zeenat offered to do a home visit so she could advise mum face to face and use an interpreter by phone via DA languages. Zeenat visited mum and the visit took place in the client's garden with social distancing observed, Zeenat was able to demonstrate with a doll and knitted breast. 

"Zeenat said she would do some reading around it before the visit and Linda sent information to Zeenat and links to resources which she has passed on to parents. The outcome is that mum has more confidence in breast feeding and Zeenat will continue to support the family.”

The second example is as follows: “Three years ago a breastfeeding support lady named Linda came to Pastures Way Children's Centre to do some sort of audit, on the same day I visited with my new born son. She helped me with his latch and because of her tomorrow I will reach three years of breastfeeding him. I would love to pass on a message to her to say the biggest thank you to her ever from the bottom of my heart as it absolutely means the world to me, especially as my breastfeeding journeys with my older two were so different.”

The team all continue to offer phone and virtual support to these mothers and in May they reached a fantastic 68.6% of mothers still feeding at 6-8 week contact. They have all made a massive difference to these mothers and new babies. 

PPE Team (Quality Team), Chief Nurse Directorate

The team were nominated by Julia Curtis as in the initial stages of the COVID -19 pandemic, it became clear that a vast amount of personal Protective Equipment was going to be required very quickly by the majority of clinical services. This has several different elements to it i.e. masks, gowns, gloves etc.  Julia said: “Following delivery of the first pallet load of one single item, it became clear that we needed to have a robust system in place to manage and monitor stock across our different geographies as individual items continued to be delivered each week. 

Louise Palmer (working alongside Liz Webb) grasped the problem and instigated a comprehensive system with Rosie Hagland, Mandy Marsh and Helen Sinfield to make sure that we had a weekly stock take (at the Meadows and with each service) and were able to react quickly to the daily sit rep escalations of insufficient supplies through the Incident Management Team. 

“They also liaise with Chris Sharp regularly when queries arise. The process has been the bedrock of ensuring that our staff have the right equipment in the right place and at the right time. Their contributions have been essential to being able to reassure staff about supply and have worked behind the scenes liaising with the Procurement team to make sure that supplies continued to be delivered and distributed.” Service Director Tracey Cooper said “This team have a complete can do attitude, nothing has been too much trouble and they have proactively responded to every query. This has had a really positive impact on service delivery - for example Dental services would not have been able to function without their efforts.” Service Director Simon Harwin endorsed this and is fully supportive of this well-deserved application.

Ashley McGonigle, Clinical Nurse Specialist, iCaSH Peterborough

Ashley was nominated by the iCaSH Peterborough team for being one of the full time nurses who has been present throughout this difficult COVID-19 time. They said: “Ashley has shown true leadership throughout and is like a golden thread running through the team. Ashley can always been relied upon to support any member of the team and is a consistent member of the team who is never afraid to muck in whenever and wherever she is needed. 

"As our service leaders have been unable to be present, working from home, Ashley has really stepped up providing a bridge enabling communications during the period of multiple changes with limited onsite support. She has been consistent in providing guidance with an ever cheerful smile to staff working at all levels working within the service. Throughout this time Ashley has shown strength of character which belies her age and experience and shows her to be a shining star now and a leader in the future.”

What amazing nominations this month, congratulations to everyone who was nominated!