Nurse chosen by patient to win hospital award

Rachel Bennett, a Nurse Practitioner at King’s Mill Hospital, was awarded The People’s Award, which was nominated for by members of the public. It was one of 16 awards that were given out on Friday evening to staff who work at King’s Mill Hospital, Mansfield Community Hospital and Newark Hospital to celebrate their achievements and dedication to delivering outstanding care and service to patients.

The Trust’s Staff Excellence Awards take place each year and celebrate more than 4,500 staff and 700 volunteers. This year, a record number of nominations were received, with almost 400 staff, patients, and visitors making nominations for individuals and teams.

Rachel recently went above and beyond in her role while caring for a patient who was going through a difficult and distressing time. She worked incredibly closely with the family, even using her own time to research further ways she could help.

One team that stood out at this year’s awards was a team who have worked hard over recent years to improve safety around sepsis and reduce the number of related deaths to become one of the best performing hospital Trusts in the country for sepsis management. The sepsis team won the Efficient and Safe award and took home the Chair’s Award for Excellence, which is given to an overall winner.

The awards ceremony, hosted by Chief Executive Richard Mitchell alongside special guest, European and Paralympic Champion Swimmer, Ollie Hynd MBE, was held at the John Fretwell Sporting Complex in Mansfield on Friday, November 10, and saw staff from all parts of the Trust, along with some of its valuable volunteers, being recognised.

Chief Executive, Richard Mitchell, said: “I was delighted to host this year’s Staff Excellence Awards. This was the first that I have I attended at the Trust since taking on the role as Chief Executive earlier in the year and it made me incredibly proud to be able to celebrate so many outstanding members of staff working at our hospitals.

“One of my priorities as a Chief Executive is to make sure that as an organisation we are recognising where teams and individuals are doing an outstanding job and thanking and rewarding them for it – that is why events like this are so important.

“We received a record-breaking number of nominations this year and inevitably only a small number of those could make the final shortlist, but everyone nominated should be extremely proud. This demonstrates what a great Trust we are already, and our commitment to making further improvements to patient care in the future.”