Staff accolades

Security staff serving the Royal Derby Hospital have been recognised by Trust Chief Executive, Gavin Boyle, for protecting staff, patients and visitors when ‘Covid-19 denying’ protesters turned up at the entrance of our Derby site back in November 2020.

The Security Team went above and beyond to control the unfortunate situation and ensured staff and patients felt safe despite the negative actions of those who turned up on multiple occasions to share their misguided thoughts on the on-going pandemic.

Gavin Boyle stated in his weekly blog: “It’s probably not worth directing a message to those responsible for this, but if you think Covid-19 is a hoax then you are misguided. If you want to protest about this – that’s up to you, but don’t do it where there are anxious patients and families and where our staff are turning up day in, day out; putting themselves and their families at risk to care for the people who need us.”

Unfortunately, one of our security officers was assaulted by one of the protestors. We worked with our partners at Derbyshire Police who were very supportive and increased their presence at the hospital to help us.

To thank our Security Team for their brave actions and the support they provided to staff, the team were awarded with this months “CEO Award”.

Gavin Boyle virtually presented the award to the team via MS Teams where Security Officers ,Louise and John, joined him on the call. He said: “I think you do an absolutely fantastic job supporting the public and our staff that work at UHDB. It’s a sad fact that some of the people in the communities we serve can be really difficult.

“I watched the national BBC News piece last week where we saw one of our ICU nurses speak about the protestors outside of the main entrance – I know many of our staff found this event very distressing.

“I am proud of your diplomatic approach to keeping our staff, visitors and patients safe – you really bring the values of our organisation (Compassion, Openness and Excellence) to the job that you do”

Mark Stoakes, Security Manager at UHDB said: “It’s a real privilege for the security team to pick up this award and it is testament to the hard work they put in day in, day out, making sure that our patients, staff and visitors are kept safe and that the Trust’s premises is a safe place to be. Well done to everyone in the team, you have done a sterling job and continue to do so, and I am really proud of each and every one of you.”

Louise, Security Officer at Royal Derby Hospital said: “We really appreciate the recognition you have given us today and to hear it from above is really meaningful to us – we will make sure to pass this on to our wider team.

“The pandemic has had a massive impact on our jobs and the way we are able to deal with incidents. We’ve had new problems arise due to pandemic such as the Covid deniers and those coming on to site who don’t want to wear the masks to keep them and others safe. Some of those that we challenge look at us as if to say “who are you to tell us?” We’re not trying to be a jobsworth, we’re just trying to do our jobs and continue to keep the Royal Derby and the wider UHDB sites a safe place to be.”