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 Winners for March 2021 are the:

District Nurses and Tissue Viability Team, Luton (Julie Coffey, Caroline Littler, Sarah Dumbrell, Gillian Hobbs, Leticia Belzunce (pictured), Michelle Staples, Anita Angelova, Farah Ali, Carly Morrison, Kirsty Hughes and Chloe Barnell)

Huge congratulations to the team who were nominated by one of their patients for their amazing care during recent months.  He said: “I just had to write a heartfelt thanks to the team that have been visiting me to treat my leg ulcers, after years of experiencing severe pain, I finally got the treatment I needed and now whilst they are still healing, they do not cause me pain anymore. Thank you all so much!”

Vicki Brookes, Specialist Tissue Viability Nurse said: “A big thank to all of the District Nursing service for their care of patients like the above gentleman, these patients account for over a 1/4 of the district nursing caseload. Leg ulcers affect a patient’s quality of life, the treatment can require up to three times a week visits for months or even years.”

Wonderful feedback, well done!

Other nominations this month included:

Bedfordshire and Luton Vision Screening Team (Carole Redmond, Sarah Gatti, Tina Keane, Diane Hale-Brown, Alice Dawes, Caroline Kilsby, Sarah Pearso, and Louise Surridge).

The team were nominated by Helen Unsworth for continuing to go above and beyond to do their jobs in very challenging circumstances. Helen said: “There is a risk that, if children are not screened and treated before they are 7 years old, they will be at risk of permanent vision damage. With schools shut to many, the team have been creative and established vision screening clinics. They have also worked collaboratively with schools to screen those children who have been attending schools, particularly vulnerable children.

“Public Health England advised all vision screening services to send out a letter to parents to advise that due to Covid they need to take their child to the optician to be tested. We will not need to send that letter out to families as, through the screeners' tenacity and hard work, we will have screened all the children who were missed last academic year. A huge thankyou to the whole team - they really are superstars.”

Children's Community Nursing team, Bedford (Richard Moore, Alison Wardley, Poonam Kumar, Philippa Windwood, Kimberley Gordon, Donna Duggan, Grace Vickers, Rachel Board, Hannah Morris, Esther Stanbrook, Katie Stafford, Catherine Peto and Elizabeth Jennings)

The team were nominated by Tiffany Staughton who recently started with the CCN team as a children's community nurse.  She said: “I have felt so welcomed into team since day one. The whole team from the nurses to the APs to admin have all been so kind and supportive to me and other new members of the team which I am extremely thankful for. It is a pleasure to work within this team.”

Alison Wardley, Children's Community Nursing Team Manager, Bedfordshire

Alison was nominated by Tiffany Staughton, she said: “From the start Alison and the team have been so welcoming and made me feel so at ease and I quickly became part of the team. Alison always has a smile on her face and nothing ever seems too much. She is extremely kind and compassionate and is a great team leader. I am so thankful to have her as my new manager.”

Helen Yendoll, Community Nursery Nurse, 0-19 Team, South, Bedford Borough

Mary Maher-Ngwang nominated Helen for always going above and beyond her remit to support families in Bedford. Mary said: “Helen is the quintessential professional who always provides an excellent standard of service; she supports her colleagues and team alike.”

Matthew Powell, Assistant Financial Accountant, HQ St Ives

Chris Leonard nominated Matthew following the end of the Serco contract when he took over the management of utility and waste contracts for the Trust. Chris said: “Matt has worked tirelessly and very diligently supporting me in my (and my team’s role) role by reviewing historical records/data at a granular level and flagging issues with service providers and other contracting authorities.

“The outcome is that the Trust are probably in the best place that they have ever been with regard to the management of the these contracts, up to date invoicing, etc., which is enabling the Trust to consolidate contracts and moving over to Crown framework provider and pricing structure where appropriate.”

Our wonderful staff going above and beyond - well done to everyone who was nominated this month!