Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has applauded its dedicated workforce by announcing the winners of this year’s ‘Thank You’ awards.
A nurse whose career spans a remarkable 50 years, clinicians who have embraced technology to support their patients during the pandemic, staff who came out of retirement to deliver the Covid-19 vaccination programme and those who supervised its delivery were just some of those recognised over the past 12-months.
Marking the contributions of those who have gone the extra mile in a year unlike any other for the NHS locally and nationally, proved to be a hugely humbling and emotional experience for recipients of the awards. Held this year at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington.
The organisation, which provides high-quality community services in Warrington, Halton, St Helens and Oldham, as well as dental services in many areas of Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Merseyside, paid tribute to clinicians and corporate staff who have supported delivery of frontline services in health centres, clinics and patients own homes and the individuals and teams who have supported them to do so.
Catheter Care Sister Sharon Bannister was the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Trust Chair, Karen Bliss.
Photograph: Catheter Care Sister Sharon Bannister receiving her lifetime achievement award after a career spanning 50 years in the NHS.
Described as “…an outstanding and professional nurse who has always gone above and beyond.” Sharon’s compassion and expertise has supported many thousands of patients in the Warrington area in a career spanning an amazing half century.
The Chief Executive’s Award was jointly presented to the many individuals who worked tirelessly to deliver the Trust’s Covid-19 vaccination programme and our workforce immunisers who successfully delivered the School-Aged vaccination programme despite the many obstacles posed by the pandemic.
Tribute was paid to Lead Nurse Lisa Williams who supported immunisers from across the Trust in the delivery of both programmes. Recognition was also given to those who worked behind the scenes to support the successful delivery of the programmes.
IT technician Paul Dwerryhouse, a self-confessed collector and figuring “geek”, was awarded the Trust’s Community Partnership Award for organising the collection and delivery of POP characters to local children in hospitals and hospices across the North West.
Stephanie Murphy was named Clinical Employee of the year. Stephanie a member of the Trust’s Safeguarding Team was recognised for the extraordinary lengths she has gone to in support of some of the most vulnerable individuals in our local communities. Her professionalism and dedication were singled out for praise by colleagues.
Kathryn Sharkey, who led the implementation of the Trust’s E rostering system was named Non-Clinical Employee. The system has successfully supported the deployment of staff across the Trust in an efficient and effective manner
Two individuals who have demonstrated determination, resilience and drive during a year of extraordinary challenge were recognised in the Clinical Leader of the Year Category.
Jo Bark Jones, the Trust’s Head of Medicines Management has led numerous initiatives across the trust during the past year to ensure the most poorly patients continued to receive the medicines they needed during a year of extraordinary challenge.
Rebecca Jones, Head of the North West Driving Assessment Service was recognised for her determination and drive to highlight the availability of the service and how it can support people to lead more independent lives.
The Clinical Team of the Year Award was presented to the clinicians at the Urgent Treatment Centre in Widnes who had to demonstrate great resilience, drive and determination to adapt their working practices to ensure patients continued to be seen safely and appropriately throughout the entirety of the pandemic. Their professionalism, compassion and commitment to ensuring patients continued to receive the care they needed throughout the year was highlighted during the ceremony.
Two individuals who continued to develop their skills and knowledge throughout the year whilst continuing to manage extremely demanding jobs were awarded Learner of the Year awards.
Jonathan Stafford, a member of the Trust’s finance team was singled out for his unstinting commitment to his work and his support in developing a new starter and charitable causes.
Jonathon also represents Bridgewater as Chair of the Student Forum for the Skills Development Network.
Allied Health Professional Support Worker Amanda Griffiths pursued her studies throughout the year advancing to a higher-level apprentice opportunity and promoting the profession of Occupational Therapy at career fairs as and when she could. Her passion for her profession was described as unrivalled.
The work carried out in support of the implementation of eRostering across the Trust and the by staff in the Recruitment, HR and E rostering teams sharing the award for the Non-Clinical Team of the Year award with their colleagues in the Information Technology – IT – team .
Both have worked tirelessly throughout the year to support home working, remote consultations, delivered complex systems into healthcare settings across the Trust and facilitated numerous developments in support of their colleagues working on the frontline and behind the scenes.
Two individuals who directly benefitted from the IT team’s work – Karen Jones and Lee Hawthorn, who work in the trust’s physiotherapy department were recognised for their Outstanding Contribution to Research and Innovation.
The duo successfully implemented a programme of remote working in support of their patients, providing triage and treatments on-line to ensure they continued to receive the help and support they needed.
In a year of challenge, the efforts of Staff Champion Joanne Turner and Equality & Diversity lead Ruth Besford were recognised in the category of Staff engagement. Both have shown flair and imagination in supporting their colleagues with networks and initiatives to distract from the pressures of the working day and support and physical and mental health and wellbeing.
Four individuals shared the award for Non-Clinical Leader/Manger; These were Angela Smith, Medical Devices Lead; Christine Whittaker, Assistant Director of Organisational Development; Joanne Austin from the HR / Recruitment Team and Kathryn Sharkey from the HR / Recruitment Team.
“Our Bridgewater Thank You awards brought together teams and individuals whose passion, determination and resilience supported the delivery of some fantastic schemes, projects and developments.” said Chief Executive, Colin Scales.
“Each of those recognised were focused on supporting their colleagues to deliver the best care possible to their patients. NHS community services make a huge difference to many thousands of people’s lives in the communities we proudly serve.
“This year we have been overwhelmed by the public’s generosity and support for our staff and we thank them for their continued understanding and patience as we tackle the impact that Covid-19 has had on us all.”
Our thanks go to the sponsors of the awards; Weightmans, Allocate, CRP Group, GRI, Hill Dickinson, Lenovo, Softcat, Catalyst, Facere Melius and Insight.
For further information about our Thank You awards visit the Trust’s website via www.bridgewater.nhs.uk
A full list of award winners are as follows:
Community Partnership Award
Paul Dwerryhouse
Clinical Employee of the Year
Stephanie Murphy
Clinical leader of the Year
Jo Bark-Jones
Rebecca Jones
Clinical Team of the Year
Widnes Urgent Treatment Centre
Learner/Apprentice of the Year
Jonathan Stafford
Amanda Griffiths
Non-Clinical Employee of the Year
Kathryn Sharkey
Non-Clinical Leader/Manager of the Year
Angela Smith
Christine Whittaker
Joanne Austin
Kathryn Sharkey
Non-Clinical Team of the Year
IT, Systems and Information
Recruitment, HR and eRoster staff
Outstanding Contribution to Research and Innovation
Karen Jones and Lee Hawthorn
Staff Engagement Award
Joanne Turner
Ruth Besford
Chair’s Award for Lifetime Achievement
Sharon Bannister
CEO Award
Covid Vaccine Programme
Halton & Warrington School-Aged Immunisation Team
For further information on Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, please contact the Communications Team at bchft.global@nhs.net.