Team and Employee of the Month – March 2019

Big congratulations go to our latest Team of the Month award winners – the fantastic nursing staff who pulled together to run our winter ward for Care of the Elderly.

The seasonal ward, which was open 24 hours a day from January to March on ward 17, is a great example of our Trust working at its best, with staff pooling their skills to provide a first-class service to help us through the busy winter period.

Matron for Care of the Elderly, Katie Whitrick, nominated the team for “embracing change and accepting a new challenge”.

The ward provided additional inpatient capacity to support patient flow during the winter period – proving a real success in caring for about 280 people.

To set it up, ward 25 closed and its staff moved to ward 17 – the new winter ward.  There were only two members of staff who had previous experience of caring for elderly patients, the other staff were surgical gastroenterology nurses, so it was challenging for them.

“Everyone who worked on ward 17 volunteered to do so and together they formed a terrific team which really made a difference at one of our busiest times of the year,” said Katie.

“I wanted to nominate the nursing team because they have been a pleasure to work with; have embraced every challenge thrown at them with success; have developed and achieved new skills… and if it wasn’t for them the winter ward wouldn’t have happened!

“As matron, this was a new challenge for me too, but with a great team and all of us working together, we’ve made this the best winter ward ever implemented within the Trust.”

The team made a great contribution to the smooth-running of our hospitals during this winter and showed what we can achieve when we work as one.

Congratulations to them all!

Our latest Employee of the Month award goes to not one but two colleagues who are a credit to their department and the Trust as a whole!

Therapy Assistant Practitioner Jacky Rivers, and Trainee Therapy Assistant Denise Rhodes, from our respiratory physiotherapy team, took the honours for consistently going above and beyond in their roles which often involve caring for long-stay patients.

Critical Care Service’s Extended Scope Physiotherapist, Cordy Gaubert, nominated the dedicated pair, and singled out one patient who has been in hospital for more than a year who the pair have treated with the greatest “kindness and compassion”.

She said: “Jacky and Denise promote a holistic approach – taking the patient’s shoes home to mend as he had no other footwear, organising a wheelchair for him to go off the ward with visitors, and ensuring he was referred to a chiropodist.

“They also organised his first shower in nine months, sit and listen to him when he does not want to participate in therapy, and have organised a Mylife TV, a visit to the hairdresser and much more.

“On his birthday, he did not think he was having any visitors, so Jacky and Denise took him off the ward to our Costa Coffee and bought him a drink.

“They consistently aim to personalise and humanise this gentleman’s prolonged hospital stay and make a huge difference to his hospital experience.”

Jacky and Denise’s actions – which extend to all their patients – are a clear example of how our care can brighten lives and act as a catalyst for the healing process.

The pair were speechless when their whole team gathered around for their surprise award presentation from Pat Campbell, Director of HR, which took place in the physiotherapy seminar room at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Jacky and Denise have been with us for 17 and five years respectively and their nomination shone out in a field of 17 – which is our largest month of submissions so far.

Well done to them both!