Debbie McGee, the radio host, presenter and wife of the late Paul Daniels added an extra touch of magic to an event celebrating the achievements of staff and volunteers from Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (MTW).
On Friday (18 November) MTW announced its 2016 ‘Staff Stars’ Awards across a number of categories at the Hop Farm. This year a record number of nominations were made by staff and patients. MTW employs over 5,500 people and this year took over the management of Crowborough Birth Centre.
Debbie commented: “It was a great honour to be part of the MTW Staff Awards. It is so important to recognise the wonderful work they all do. Long may people want to look after us all in so many different ways. I think the staff deserve medals.”
Winners and Runners-Up include the Trust’s Teenage Pregnancy Midwives who provide a personalised service for young pregnant teenagers and Dr Jenny Weeks, famous for using mathematics, namely subtraction, to distract her patients undergoing stressful biopsy procedures.
Sister Sandra Wakelin, a Macmillan Lung Clinical Nurse Specialist, won the Innovation Award for her work setting up a clinic in which she sees patients and prescribes supportive medications to help them manage side effects from chemotherapy.
Winner of the Excellence Award was LA1 Oncology who were nominated by a patient who described the ‘kindness, consideration and compassion’ shown by the team and how ‘it has been a pleasure to come every day and not a chore’.
A charity raffle on the night raised over £700 for the ‘Cup of Kindness’ charity helping to relieve sickness and promote good health of patients in hospitals and hospices.
Full details of the winners and award categories are detailed below. More photos are available on request. TWH denotes Tunbridge Wells Hospital.
Patient First
Runner up – Individual: Roz Barwell, Ward Manager Ward 20, TWH
Winner – Individual: Dawn Mepham, Occupational Therapist, TWH
Runner up – Team: AMU, Maidstone
Winner – Team: Teenage Pregnancy Midwives – Rachel Cant and Katie Hall, cross-site
Respect
Runner up – Individual: Dr Jenny Weeks, Breast Care department, Maidstone
Winner – Individual: Isobel Morley, AMU, Maidstone
Runner up – Team: Pre-Assessment Nurses (Fran Staples, Elizabeth Stroud and Karen Nightingale), Maidstone
Winner – Team: Hedgehog Ward Nursing Team, TWH
Innovation
Runner up – Individual: Dawn Hallam, Discharge Manager, cross-site
Winner – Individual: Sandra Wakelin, Lung Cancer CNS, Maidstone
Runner up – Team: Inci Patel and Valerie Shield (cashier and receptionist), Maidstone
Winner – Team: Infection Control Team, cross-site
Delivery
Runner up – Individual: Vicky Maggs, Complaints Administrator, Maidstone
Winner – Individual: Karen Leeson, Birth Centre Manager, Crowborough
Runner up – Team: Secondary Breast Cancer Multidisciplinary Team, Maidstone
Winner – Team: Domestics, cross-site
Excellence
Runner up – Individual: Helen Summers, Vascular Access Nurse Specialist, cross-site
Winner – Individual: Leon D’Cruz, Respiratory Medicine Research Associate
Runner up – Team: Neonatal Unit, TWH
Winner – Team: LA1 Oncology Team, Maidstone
Kent Messenger Newspaper Hospital Hero Award
Winner: Dr Leon D’Cruz
Courier Newspaper Hospital Hero Award
Winner: Carol Smallman, Paediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist
Special Recognition Award
Winner: Gnanappiragasam Sithamparapillai, Senior Biomedical Scientist
Sylvia Denton Award for Care and Compassion
Winner: Ruth Paul, Bereavement Midwife
Chairman’s Award
Winner: Kemi Adams, Traffic Officer, Security Team
Volunteer of the year
Runner Up: Anneliese Gibbs, Maidstone
Winner: Laurie Williams, Maidstone
Team of the Year
Runner Up: Edith Cavell Unit, Maidstone
Winner: Cardiac Rehabilitation Volunteers, Tunbridge Wells Hospital
Employee of the Year
Runner Up: Matthew Hitchcock, Head Chef, Maidstone
Winner: Carol Kinsella, Clinical Manager, Outpatient Physiotherapy