NHS staff donned their gladrags for a night of glamour at this year's Time to Shine Awards at Tewin Bury Farm last week.
The East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust - which runs Stevenage's Lister Hospital, The New QEII in Welwyn Garden City, Hertford County Hospital and Mount Vernon Cancer Centre in Northwood - celebrated its staff with the annual award ceremony on Wednesday, July 5.
Staff from across the Trust were invited to put forward nominations before the event, with a panel of judges scoring each nomination to determine the 33 finalists.
More than 300 members of staff attended to celebrate the success of their colleagues, including the 11 winners crowned on the night.
The first award was the Dedalus Quality Award. It was won by Adele Leveton – who had worked for the trust for 33 years before retiring in June – and recognised her work in enabling families to receive care closer to home, reducing the time spent in hospitals and at appointments.
The second winner of the night was Catherine Morgan, who has been training international nurses for over seven years, supporting over 700 Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) nurses.
Catherine was awarded the NHS Professionals Thriving People, which was received on her behalf by colleague Stephanie Smith (pictured below).
Pharmacy technician Jayne Setoudeh was then crowned the third winner of the evening, taking home the IQVIA Seamless Service Award for her unwavering commitment to patients and colleagues.
The Mount Vernon Cancer Centre Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy (SACT) Team was announced as The Virginia Mason Institute Continuous Improvement Award winners.
The SACT team went above and beyond for breast cancer patients, helping them to regain control of their lives, independence and return to normality.
Next up was Dr Shivani Pandya, who won the inaugural Green Award for her commitment and passion to create a “green team”, achieving funding for re-usable theatre hats, as well as other re-usable theatre wear to improve sustainability across the Trust.
Collecting the award on Dr Shivani’s behalf was deputy medical director, Tim Walker.
The Special Contribution Award went to Rizaldy Tibio for exemplifying true compassion and support for both colleagues and patients. Riz was nominated by a grateful colleague for going above and beyond during their time of need.
Elana Shapter’s commitment to taking time to build trust and relationships with patients, ensuring they remain at the forefront of the hospitals' care saw her crowned the Respect Award winner.
Maria Barker was recognised with The Inclusion Award. Maria was awarded for her role as an inclusion ambassador for the Trust, as well as for her invaluable work within the community to both support and build confidence of young people.
One of the loudest applauses of the evening was in celebration of Ann Meldrum, whose relentless fundraising for the East and North Hertfordshire Hospitals' Charity saw her raise an astonishing £6,035 to renovate the garden on the children's Bluebell Ward.
Ann is a popular figure among patients and staff at Lister Hospital and is often seen in fancy dress, encouraging visitors to take part in her raffles.
Nominated for their tireless dedication and commitment to providing person-centred care, alleviating anxieties, and loneliness through additional support for families affected by Dementia, the Dementia Volunteers deservedly took home The Here to Help Award.
The final award of the evening – The People’s Choice Award – was voted for by the public.
Following a freak accident during Storm Eunice, resulting in the amputation of a patient's leg, the physiotherapy team went above and beyond to build the patient's confidence, tailoring their recovery around their love for netball, regularly checking in on their wellbeing and quote "making the first year following the incident so much easier to cope with”.
Trust chief executive Adam Sewell-Jones said: "I was both humbled and privileged to be a judge for the awards, and reading the many, many nominations that came in made me feel quite emotional.
"It was fantastic to be able to see so many of our wonderful colleagues celebrating their success, and, as part of our NHS 75th birthday celebrations, an opportunity to say thank you.
"Congratulations to all of our nominees, as well as our award winners. To make it past the nomination and shortlisting stages from amongst many worthy winners is an incredible achievement.”
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