“You're a fantastic leader and shouldn’t underestimate anything you have achieved" - Paul awarded with Chief Executives Award
Congratulations to Paul Brooks, Director of Patient Experience, Estates and Facilities at UHDB, who has been awarded our January “Chief Executive Award”.
Paul, who has worked at the Trust for over 30 years, was chosen by Gavin Boyle, our Chief Executive, to celebrate Paul’s achievements over the last few months. Not only has Paul showed great dedication and commitment to supporting UHDB colleagues throughout the on-going pandemic, but he has most recently been awarded an MBE for his services to Healthcare Leadership.
Gavin Boyle presented the award to Paul via MS Teams on Friday afternoon to thank him for his efforts and congratulate him. Our Making a Difference Awards are usually presented to colleagues face to face, but we are having to make some changes and present virtually due to the pandemic.
Since Paul joined the NHS in 1983 as an apprentice plumber, he has played an integral part in the development of what now is UHDB; from leading the intergenerational care programme, the development of volunteers and support of sustainability exploration, through to revamping sites at speed, increasing critical care capacity, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Paul is universally regarded as an inspirational leader and known for promoting positive and inclusive experience.
His innovative ways of working have been pivotal in reducing C. difficile rates within the Trust, with ‘The Derby Door’ having a major impact in managing the Covid-19 cross-contamination. Innovations extend to his development of Air Arts, a charity using art to create a calm and welcoming environment for all accessing our sites, modernising the ways in which we can enhance recovery for patients at UHDB.
When presenting Paul with his award, Gavin Boyle, Chief Executive said: “I’m really sorry Paul; I can’t really beat an MBE with my CEO Award! We’re so made up for you and everything you have achieved – anyone you speak to believes it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy!
“You are a fantastic leader and shouldn’t underestimate anything you have achieved – well done!”
Paul said: “Thanks so much for this award and all the lovely messages I have received over the past couple of weeks – I’ve been so overwhelmed by them all. I don’t take compliments that well, so it has been pretty difficult to accept them on mass!
“I’m so lucky to be able to work with my amazing, dedicated team each and every day – you can’t buy the kind of team and support that I have! We are all one and this is a brilliant lift to have received at the end of the week.”
If you would like to nominate a colleague or team for a Monthly Making a Difference Award, please let us know!
There are four monthly Making a Difference Awards categories:
Chief Executive Award – Chosen by Gavin Boyle
Patient Hero Award – Nominated by patients
Team UHDB Award – You can nominate your team or another team
Excellent Employee Award – You can nominate your colleagues
You can send a 300 word nomination along with the name of the team or individual, their job title and where they work, to uhdb.employeeawards@nhs.net.