Making a Difference - Award Winners

Catering staff in Lichfield and Tamworth have cooked up more than a treat after receiving one of our July Team UHDB Awards.

The Catering Teams at both Samuel Johnson Community Hospital and Sir Robert Peel Community Hospital have done a fantastic job over the last few months. The team provide breakfast, dinner and tea for our patients as well as snacks and food for all the staff who work at our hospitals.

Gavin Boyle, Chief Executive, visited the teams at the beginning of the month to present them with their surprise awards.

Tina Wass, Catering Supervisor, said: “As a team we are incredibly proud to have won this award and I want to say a huge thank you to everyone in the catering teams at both community sites who have gone above and beyond throughout these tough times. Our team works really hard to make sure our patients get the best possible food whilst they are with us in hospital.”

Great work team!        

If you know a UHDB member of staff or team who should be recognised for their exceptional work, you can nominate them for a monthly Making a Difference Award by emailing uhdb.employeeawards@nhs.net.

During the COVID pandemic, our IT Desktop Support Team has helped to ensure that hundreds of members of #TeamUHDB have been able work remotely and have been recognised for their hard work and dedication after being presented with a Team UHDB Award.

As the pandemic has gone on, staff have had to shield at home or have been working remotely more frequently to help ensure we have COVID safe spaces across our hospitals, and all of this wouldn’t have been possible with the Desktop Support Team.

The team has also been at the centre of the adoption of the wider use of Microsoft Teams across the Trust, which has revolutionised the way in which we interact with colleagues across our sites.

Gavin Boyle, CEO, presented the team with their award, and commended them for their continued commitment: “To roll out the use of 800 extra laptops out to staff and all the commissioning that requires is a massive undertaking. You’ve made a big difference to so many people’s working lives.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of colleagues who are shielding at the moment via MS Teams, and they have told me how much of a mental benefit it’s been for them to be able to continue working from home thanks to your work.

“You might think this is all in a day’s work but this has been a real lifeline to a lot of people and I think that’s an incredible achievement.”

The heart-warming videos of our patients being applauded by colleagues after spending long spells in ITU battling Covid-19 have provided a huge boost to us all in recent weeks.

It would be no exaggeration at all to say that our Intensive Care teams at Royal Derby Hospital and Queen’s Hospital Burton have been absolutely magnificent over the last few months as our units have come under unprecedented pressure.   

The teams have responded to this challenge by dramatically increasing the size of both of our ICUs, with staff working tirelessly alongside other colleagues from across the Trust as the unit in Burton has tripled in size, while the Derby unit has increased its capacity fivefold.

More than anything though, the colleagues working in Intensive Care have shown enormous courage and dedication while caring for high numbers of very poorly Covid patients, with this fantastic work being recognised with a Team UHDB Award.  

Gavin Boyle, Chief Executive, presented both teams with the Making a Difference Awards, and said: “When I think about critical care, the Intensive Care teams are certainly among those that have played a huge part in our response to Covid-19. It’s been such a difficult period but the teams have dealt with the fear of working in a high risk area. I really appreciate all of the work they’ve done, not just physically, but also the courage and dedication they’ve shown during this unprecedented time.”

Dr Sujad Kiani, Clinical Lead for ICU in Derby, said: “It’s been a big challenge for us all but this award really is much appreciated by the whole team.”

The Burton Intensive Care team agreed, adding: “We’ve been working so hard, so it’s really nice to have been recognised in this way.”

The immense effort that has gone on behind the scenes to look after our colleagues and to keep them informed throughout the Covid-19 pandemic has been acknowledged with an award.

UHDB’s Workforce Transformation Team have done a fantastic job over the last few months completing a variety of different projects to aid staff wellbeing – at one stage handling 600 queries a day from colleagues.    

From initially carrying out wellbeing calls to staff who were off work to check how they were doing, to then processing and contacting colleagues with Covid swab test results, the team have really gone the extra mile and adapted their roles to support whenever the demand has been there.

The team have also been working tirelessly to invite colleagues from across our five hospitals to receive antibody testing, with Gavin Boyle, Chief Executive, surprising them with a Team UHDB Award this week to show the Trust’s appreciation.

He said: “The team have done a fantastic job, so I wanted to thank them for everything they’ve done. There have been a few challenges along the way throughout the last few months, the antibody testing to name but one, but we seem to be on top of that now, which is really reassuring for our staff. Making sure that we look after our people has been one of our biggest challenges, so things like this really matter.”

Faye Bradley, Assistant Director of Workforce Transformation and Integration, said: “From our perspective, we’ve had quite a bit to do with workforce contingency and HR business planning but we’ve never had to test it in real life like this. It’s taken an almighty effort from all of the HR teams but it’s very satisfying to have been recognised in this way, especially as we’re viewed as a team that works behind the scenes.”

UHDB’s Business Intelligence team have played a key role throughout Covid-19 by literally working around the clock to provide colleagues the most up-to-date data possible.

From keeping on top of the numbers of Covid positive patients at the Trust, to regularly briefing our teams with the numbers of free beds available across our hospitals, the team have done a fantastic job keeping everyone informed.

It was only right then that, after doing so much to keep staff updated during what has been an undoubtedly challenging time, the Business Intelligence team were selected to receive a Team UHDB Making a Difference Award.

Richard Butterfield, Deputy Chief Information Officer, said: “The team have managed to shift around our workload to continue to do all of our mandated work, while also responding to all of the extra requests associated with Covid. We’ve moved to a 7 day service, with people getting up at all hours of the day to make sure our data is always as accurate as possible. It’s been a great example of team effort and so it’s great to have received this recognition.” 

Gavin Boyle, Chief Executive, presented the team with the award, and said: “It’s so important that we’re on the ball with the latest stats, so it this has been a massive piece of work. We all know where we can find all of the reliable data when we need it, which is incredibly helpful. The team will have, no doubt, received a never ending number of requests for information, so this award is just a little thank you on behalf of the entire Trust.”