Winners of Medway Annual Staff Awards 2021 revealed

The achievements of teams and individuals who have gone the extra mile, or shown great passion and commitment to making the work environment the best it can be for both colleagues and patients, has been recognised by Medway NHS Foundation Trust.

Ten awards were presented by Chief Executive Dr George Findlay to the winners of this year’s Medway Annual Staff Awards 2021. 

Instead of the winners attending an awards ceremony they were individually filmed receiving a trophy and a certificate as part of a special ceremony-style video for patients, staff and the public to watch.

This year staff could nominate their peers in nine categories, which focused on the cultural elements of the Trust’s culture and leadership programme. The winners were:

Vision and Values Award

Winner - Lowella Suba Nurse Co-ordinator for Frailty Flow Pathways, Elderly Care

Teamwork Award

Winner – Pharmacy Team

Highly commended - Iram Ahmed, Acting General Manager for Diagnostics and Clinical Support Services

Learning and Innovation Award

Winner – Simulation Team

Equality and Inclusion Award

Winner – Alexandra (Dianne) Sobers, Medical Records Manager 

Employee of the Year Award

Winner – Amber Servante, Clinical Support Worker on Trafalgar Ward 

Team of the Year Award

Winner – Dolphin Ward

Support and Compassion Award

Winner – Claire Harrison, Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) Officer (awarded posthumously)

Highly commended – Pat Craddock, Ward Hostess

Goals and Performance Award

Winner – McCulloch Ward

Volunteer of the Year Award

Winner – Therapy dogs Yazzy, Poppy and Fred - awarded to their owners Volunteer Janice McCauley, bank Clinical Support Worker Charlotte Dawson and the Trust’s Voluntary Services Manager Zoe Goodman

Once again, the Trust also teamed up with the Medway Messenger for the Hospital Hero Award. Patients and members of the public were asked to send in their nominations to thank staff for their dedication, hard work and compassion, with the winner chosen by the paper.

Samira McDonald, a bank staff member on Lister Ward, and Yvonne Morrison, Lead Specialist Bereavement Midwife, each received a special mention but the overall winner was Alison Youdale, Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner on the Oliver Fisher Special Care Baby Unit.

The family of a baby who sadly died, days after being born prematurely, nominated Alison. Not only did she support them during their darkest moment while they were on the unit, but also once they had returned home – attending the baby’s funeral and even coming in on her day off to support the family during a meeting about their baby’s death.

When the family found out they were expecting again, Alison went out of her way to make herself available to answer any questions in relation to the pregnancy to help alleviate their concerns and worries.

Matt Ramsden, editor of the Medway Messenger, said: “We chose Alison because of her amazing work helping grieving families. The support she has shown to the family who nominated her in particular demonstrates how dedicated she is to supporting people in her care.

“As a newspaper, we often speak to bereaved families and know the incredibly stressful and upsetting time they are going through will be the hardest of challenges in life. So, for Alison to show such amazing commitment to her patients, visiting on her days off, talking to families when they have returned home, checking in with them and making sure they're doing as best as they can in the circumstances, we felt is truly inspirational.

“Congratulations Alison. Keep up the amazing work.”

Chief Executive Dr George Findlay said: “The awards really are a fantastic way for us, as an organisation, to recognise and reward those who have gone the extra mile, or shown great passion and commitment to making our work environment the best it can be for both colleagues and patients.

“Importantly, they let staff know that their hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed, something that is really needed after the tough couple of years we’ve all faced due to the pandemic.

“More than 115 nominations were submitted in total and the standard of entries was extremely high, which is fantastic so a huge thank you to everyone who submitted a nomination.

“Congratulations to all of the winners and those who were highly commended or received a special mention in this year’s awards, you should be extremely proud.

“And to all of our staff, thank you for everything that you do - day in day out. Your work does not go unnoticed.” 

View the Medway Annual Staff Awards 2021 video below: