Awards recognise hospital staff excellence on NHS birthday

The awards take place each year to honour colleagues and community partners who go above and beyond for the trust, which runs Sutton’s King’s Mill, Mansfield Community and Newark hospitals.

The ceremony, held at the John Fretwell Sporting Complex, Sookholme, was the first since 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A wonderful evening was had by all, and it was great to see so many people in attendance to celebrate the winners and their fantastic achievements.

The awards are only made possible due to generous donations and sponsorship.

This year, the trust was grateful for the support of sponsor ResMed, a provider of digital devices to help people with sleep apnoea and other chronic diseases and Sirona Medical, a UK-based healthcare recruitment agency.

The trust would also like to thank your Chad for its continued support as media partners for the People’s Award, which enables members of the public to thank individual colleagues or teams working at the trust for their dedication and commitment.

And special thanks must go to the Sherwood Forest Hospitals Charity, whose generous donations enable the awards to take place.

Lifetime achievement

Several awards of note were handed out on the night, one being the first lifetime achievement award which went to Gerrie Edwards, trust corporate matron. She was nominated for her involvement in several projects within the Trust. Gerrie supported the trust to achieve Pathway to Excellence accreditation, which globally recognises the trust as an excellent place for nurses and midwives to work. She also leads the Shared Governance councils which provide staff a platform to have their voice heard and has been actively involved in the anti-racism strategy. As well as this, she mentors and supports aspiring black, Asian, minority and ethnic members of staff and has consulted on the Internationally Educated Nurses and Midwives survey which was highly praised by NHS England. The IENM survey is a voluntary survey undertaken by NHS England aimed at internationally educated nurses. The responses are fed back into the Midwifery International Recruitment Programme.

Gerrie said: “I cannot thank the beautiful people who voted for me enough. I feel truly humbled. I work with some incredible people who always have our patients at the heart of everything we do. Always be kind, always find a reason to make someone else smile.”

People’s award

Margaret King, a domestic cleaner at King’s Mill, won the people’s award. She has worked in the domestic cleaning Team for 15 years and was nominated for the support she gives to young adults with learning difficulties, whom she helps into further employment with the trust. Margaret has been described as “supportive and caring with the most wonderful level of patience”. She has very recently retired, and this award is a wonderful way to honour her for her magnificent work, time and dedication.

Chairman’s award

Clare Harris, of the Clipstone-based Emily Harris Foundation, was the worthy winner of the chairman’s award, chosen by Claire Ward, trust chairman. Clare was chosen for her amazing efforts over the years in raising money for the neonatal intensive care unit at King’s Mill.

Clare, from Clipstone, has helped raise more than £250,000 for the neonatal unit at King’s Mill since founding the charity with her husband, Neil, in 2008, to thank the unit for the support and care their first daughter Emily, who passed away at just five months old from a heart condition, received.

Ms Ward said: “The level of commitment shown by all the nominees is so inspiring to see and it has been humbling to hear all their stories. Congratulations to all the winners and all of those who were shortlisted for awards.

“The chairman’s award was created to acknowledge someone who truly deserves to be honoured for all they do for the trust, and I cannot think of a more worthy recipient than Clare. Her efforts over the years have benefitted so many families who are going through the unimaginable and we are thankful for all that she has done since she started the foundation in 2008.”

Volunteer of the year

The trust would not be able to function without the incredible efforts of its team of volunteers and the volunteer of the year award aims to honour those individuals. Newark Hospital volunteer Pam Weir, who has been in her role for an impressive 22 years and currently volunteers in the radiology department at the Hospital, won this award for going above and beyond in all that she does, always greeting people with a smile and putting patients at ease by treating them with courtesy and respect.

Pam said: “It’s amazing to win. I never win anything – not even a raffle! The colleagues I work with are great and have been so supportive since I lost my husband.”

Opportunity

Paul Robinson, SFH chief executive, said: “I always look forward to the awards. It’s such a great opportunity to celebrate the amazing things colleagues have achieved over the past 12 months.

“Seeing all these wonderful people being honoured for going above and beyond in their roles and displaying acts of kindness and care to all those they encounter makes me so proud to be chief executive.

“I’d like to say a big thank you to all the members of the public who voted in our popular People’s Award category, your kind comments and feedback really do make all the difference.

“Many people comment on how welcome, inclusive, and friendly they find colleagues at the Trust and the Excellence Awards are a great chance for the Trust to celebrate all its amazing colleagues and honour their achievements.”

Winners

CARE award: Emma Strawther;

Chairman’s award: Emily Harris Foundation;

Chris McFarlane award for training and development: Samantha Dales;

Community hero: Nikki Slack, West Nottinghamshire College;

Community partner: Matthew Lamb, Newark & Sherwood Council planning and growth director;

Doctor and consultant individual of the year: Amit Jaiswal;

Doctor and consultant team of the year: Acute medicine;

Lifetime achievement: Gerrie Edwards;

Multi-disciplinary team of the year: Maternity and the Badgernet project implementation team;

Most improved team: Emergency assessment unit;

Non-clinical individual of the year: Paul Holt;

Non-clinical team of the year: Sterile services team;

Nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals team of the year: Early pregnancy unit, Rainbow Clinic;

Nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals individual of the year: Emma Gregory;

People's award: Margaret King;

Rising star: Rachel Grzelak;

Specialist healthcare individual of the year: Jodie Prest;

Specialist healthcare team of the year: Medical equipment management department;

Volunteer of the year; Pam Weir.