A small but emotional ceremony was held last Friday for our latest cohort of NBT Heroes
June's NBT Hero Awards was smaller than usual but no less emotional, as at least two nominations brought tears of pride to the eyes of those in attendance.
For Maria Kane's first NBT Hero Awards since joining us as Chief Executive, she gave a heartfelt introduction to colleagues gathered (virtually) to find out what they had been nominated for.
She said:
“You might feel like what you do every day is just part of your job role, but you have all very clearly been recognised by someone for going above and beyond and making a difference, so congratulations.”
Take a look below to see selfies of some of our lovely winners, and for full details about why they were nominated!
Cait Donnelly (Senior Sister, Interventional Radiology)
nominated by Lisa Lillywhite (Nurse, Upper GI Cancer)
We had a young patient needing a pleurex drain to manage his abdominal ascites. He’d had 2 hospital admissions recently, with difficult pain control and diagnosis of his previously indolent neuroendocrine cancer which had sadly transformed to an aggressive form of the disease. He was in hospital for best supportive care – unfortunately no treatment options available and with likely weeks left to live. The patient was desperate for his wife to come in with him to have the procedure done, and Cait went the extra mile to organise a private room for the patient and his wife, check what they might need, identify the nurses who would be caring for him and make sure he could be accommodated with care and compassion for this palliative procedure. This is just another amazing example of NBT staff going above and beyond to make care personalised, special and compassionate in what already was a very difficult situation for this man and his wife but made so much more difficult in the setting of the global pandemic. Thank you Cait and the Interventional Radiology team for doing the right thing and enabling this patient to have his wish!
Carol Byrne (Linen Services Supervisor)
nominated by Juliette Hughes (Divisional Director of Nursing, Women and Children’s)
I wanted to nominate Carol as a true NBT Hero. She works tirelessly to support all linen and uniform services. She manages a complex and demanding service with a smile. I think we all take for granted the work that goes into providing linen and uniforms for such a huge hospital and such a large staff group. Carol is always so helpful and positive and goes the extra mile to help with any request. We often ask Carol for a new service (such as theatre cover up jackets delivery and stock) and Carol responds immediately, which really helps to make a positive impact on quality improvements. I truly admire and appreciate Carol's work ethic, kindness and support. Thank you Carol - we are all grateful!
Daisy Baish (Senior Speech and Language Therapist)
nominated by Hannah Marychurch (Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist, ICU)
I would like to nominate Daisy for an NBT Hero award because she makes a real difference to her patients and colleagues on a daily basis. Daisy has worked tirelessly throughout the COVID pandemic on ICU, providing essential rehab and highly skilled work to restore voice/communication to some of the sickest and most complicated tracheostomy patients we have had lately. In addition to this, she also supports the neurosurgical wards to manage the complex tracheostomy patients there, keeping in touch with their families and celebrating the 'wins' that patients achieve under her care. She works incredibly collaboratively with her physiotherapy colleagues who I know find her support and teaching invaluable. She goes above and beyond to support, facilitate and advocate for her patients wishes, relating to them at a level that really humanises the experience of being a patient in ICU. Whether that is having a laugh with a patient or helping them to communicate to loved ones for the first time, I am often in awe of the compassion she relentlessly brings to her job. Working with Daisy has made me a better clinician, and her patients really thrive under her careful expertise.
Dawn Hird (Matron, Theatres)
nominated by Juliette Hughes (Divisional Director of Nursing, Women and Children’s)
In March we celebrated Dawn's 40th year in the NHS and yet despite this she approaches every day at work with the same energy, commitment and enthusiasm as she always has. Dawn is a determined, compassionate and organised leader. Manging the theatre and medi-room complex is a huge role but one which Dawn does so capably. Throughout COVID Dawn and her teams have risen to every challenge with a can-do attitude and always with a smile. The positive impact of this has been enormous and noticeable across the Trust, supporting ICU, emergency and urgent patients and supporting the team through change and uncertainty. On top of this, Dawn is one of the kindest and supportive Matrons. Her wisdom and positivity make her a great colleague who is deeply valued and respected by us all.
Denise Boyland (Staff Nurse, Medi-rooms)
nominated by Blessy Jacob (Staff Nurse, Medi-rooms)
She is extremely excellent in supporting the new nurses. We had a night shift together and she supported me a lot and made me feel ease. Even though it was a difficult and tough night, her support and strength gave me more courage to look after that patient. She always made sure if I felt okay and taught me new things that day. As a new overseas nurse in this country, Denise has supported me so much on my first night shift. She's a super hero and I appreciate her hard work and care.
Elpidio Querimit (HCA, 33A)
nominated by Helen Barnes (Occupational Therapist, 33A)
Elpie is a fantastic HCA. He is much loved by the patients for his caring and kind approach and will always go the extra mile to make their day. All the patients I see have nothing but good things to say about him. He is a great member of the Multi Disciplinary Team and is excellent at communicating patient’s function to help us as therapists on the ward to work out if we need to see a patient. He does all of this with a smile on his face. Thanks Elpie for everything you do!
Huzaifa Adamali (Respiratory Consultant)
nominated by Alex Moulin (Respiratory Support Manager)
After a day running a clinic and showing exceptional care for his patients, Dr Adamali has been approaching at risk members of the public (targeting members of the BAME communities) to promote vaccination against the flu and COVID. Given the increased susceptibility of BAME members in our communities to COVID, he is helping reduce the risk that the people he speaks to, their families, and their communities are admitted to hospital. On the 5 of January, he was outside the hospital doing this for several hours after his shift had ended (outside of his work hours). I work with many very devoted, caring, conscientious clinicians but Dr Adamali is clearly going the extra mile to help keep our community informed, safe, and healthy.
Jessi-May Hutton (Emergency Care Assistant, ED)
nominated by Fiona Murphy (Specialty Emergency Doctor, ED)
I would like to nominate Jessi-May Hutton who is one of our Band 4 practitioners in the Emergency Department for a Hero award. She is a shining example of excellence in emergency care, with particular skill for looking after people when they are at their most vulnerable. She recently had the following feedback from colleagues, recognising her skill and care in two challenging situations:
"Excellent care looking after an extremely vulnerable distressed patient following an assault. She showed great empathy towards the patient and went out of her way to make the patient comfortable. It was a troubling case for all staff involved but Jessi-May acted with professionalism and maturity."
"Jessi-May spent a large amount of time with a dying patient and her extended family during this patient's final hours. She was able to offer (as she always does) kind words of comfort and a friendly face during an awful time for this patient, her husband, her siblings and their children. We really want to recognise what a friendly and lovely act this was and it is hard to overestimate the difference it would have made to this family and the patient. I am grateful that Jessi-May was there to offer top-quality end of life care. I understand that Jessi-May is working towards qualifying as a nurse and she will be a fantastic asset to any department lucky enough to have her. Fantastic nursing care."
Jessi-May's exemplary work is hugely appreciated and she is an inspiration to all of us.
Laura Elphick (Site Nurse Practitioner, Hospital at Night)
nominated by George Duffield (Matron, Hospital at Night)
Laura is an integral member of the Hospital at Night team and has developed into an excellent, knowledgeable and compassionate practitioner. During the pandemic she has taken on additional responsibilities around safe staffing and has excelled in this role. She has also coped brilliantly with the added pressure of studying for the ACP course and acts as a strong role model for nurses wishing to develop in advanced practice. Laura is a hero of Hospital at Night and deserves to be recognised as an NBT Hero!
Lizzy Shaw (Senior Frailty Physiotherapist, Frailty Team)
nominated by Clare Comerford (Frailty Physiotherapist, Frailty Team)
Lizzy is a frailty specialist physiotherapist who, over the past year, has been working on a service improvement task aimed at improving outcomes for frail older patients admitted with a broken upper limb. On top of her full-time job and personal commitments, she has managed to create a policy and guidelines for the management of these patients from the emergency department, management on the ward, fracture clinic and plaster room. This has involved extensive conversations with relevant stakeholders to gain the correct approval and support to facilitate implementation. She recently presented her results which showed an incredible reduction in length of stay for these patients, and positive feedback from staff and patients alike. She has developed patient booklets to support the pathway and supported training for relevant team members in the emergency zones to support knowledge sharing. This has been a significant body of work and she's gone above and beyond to ensure it has been successfully implemented. I just wanted to highlight the fantastic job she's done, improving outcomes and standards of care for a vulnerable population. Her specialist knowledge and interest has been integral in the success of this project which is why she's an outstanding NBT Hero!
Mustafizur Rahman (Housekeeper, 32B)
nominated by Anne Pullyblank (Consultant Colorectal Surgeon)
I would like to nominate Mustafizur Rahman Housekeeper on 32B for an NBT Hero Award. He moved here and needed a job to support his family and so has worked for several years at NBT as a housekeeper. I know him well because he always says hello to me and is very kind to the doctors. He takes a great deal of pride in his work and contributes to patient care by carefully checking which patients can eat and drink and makes sure they are cared for.
This is an extremely important part of patient care as this is an emergency admission ward and many patients are at risk of being kept nil by mouth unnecessarily. Housekeepers are often unrecognised in the NHS yet play an important role in smooth running of the ward and patient care. Thank you Mustafizur for everything you do.
Sarah Adair (Advanced Therapies Administrator, Brain Centre)
nominated by Jill Vague (Support Manager, Brain Centre and Rheumatology)
Sarah joined the movement disorders team in September 2019 and remains our newest member. Since the beginning of January this year, due to long-term sickness in the team, Sarah's has taken on a lot of responsibility, and she has had to quickly adapt and learn new skills fast. Sarah has coped admirably with this tricky situation and has most certainly proven that she is able to cope well under pressure! She remains positive, friendly and approachable to everyone in contact with her and has become the backbone of the admin team. We would not have managed nearly as well over the past 3 months without Sarah's continued dedication to providing an excellent standard of patient care and support to her team. I really hope she understands just how much we appreciate her and all the effort she goes to for our nurses and patients.
Stephanie Beere (Medical HR Manager, Medical Personnel)
nominated by David Hettle (ST3, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases)
Steph consistently goes above and beyond in her role as Medical HR Manager. She is always willing to help, and works quickly and efficiently even when she has to pick up several pieces to make things work. After recent changes in the work schedule for microbiology and infection trainees, there has been a lot of back and forth in trying to ensure this new work schedule is compliant, and that pay is corrected accordingly. Despite lots of these issues being challenging and moving from person to person without much resolution for a few months, when Steph became aware of the problem she took them on, collated all the information and ensured that she had done everything that she could to resolve these issues. She epitomises what is great to have in a strong HR team and has supported a whole group of trainees through these issues, as well as dealing with any individual requests quickly and with a smile. Nothing is ever too much! Thank you Steph!
Susan Batt (Clerical Officer, Talent Acquisition Team)
nominated by Emma Kislingbury (Clinical Lead Physiotherapist)
Sue provided the Physiotherapy and OT departments with technical and logistical support for the virtual recruitment of our first support worker apprentices. She ensured the smooth running of a virtual interview that led to the successful recruitment of three very promising apprentices. Further to that, she went out of her way in her own time to support another virtual recruitment by teaching my team to use all the functionalities of Zoom so that we could recreate a virtual assessment centre. She even came to check in with us on the day to ensure we had our tech up and running with no issues. Her calm encouragement gave us confidence in the processes and complete the assessment centre without any hitches. Thank you Sue for giving us your time.
Daniel Higbee (Clinical Fellow, Respiratory Medicine)
nominated by James Dodd (Consultant, Respiratory Medicine)
Daniel is a respiratory registrar who joined the department in 2019. Since joining the trust he has worked with enthusiasm and commitment helping to support the delivery of specialist care to vulnerable patients with complex severe asthma and COPD. He has helped to introduce a new diagnostic test to improve the care of patients with laryngeal and vocal cord problems and because of his extra commitment to supporting the complex airways MDT, Southmead is now one of the largest contributors to the national severe asthma registry which monitors outcomes and responses to treatment ensuring good governance and the very highest standards of care. Daniel has also developed his skills as a kind and caring clinician with this recent feedback just one example of how Daniel has become a credit to the respiratory service and the Trust.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their time yesterday. They were both very polite, professional and caring in all ways. My appointment with the consultant exceeded all my expectations and I left feeling reassured that progress had been made. It was a very pleasurable experience in the Southmead Hospital, so please thank them for me.”
If this was not enough, Daniel has worked towards the completion of a PhD which has contributed to the better understanding of how lung health relates to other long-term conditions such as cardiovascular disease. This is despite returning to full time clinical work during the peak of the pandemic. Daniel is hard working, flexible and excellent trainee. I can't think of anyone more deserving of recognising as an NBT Hero.
Matthew Rogers (HCA, Outpatients)
nominated by Michelle Jordan (Sister, Outpatients)
There are many unsung heroes within North Bristol Trust and especially in Outpatients - however I would like to nominate Matthew Rogers for an NBT Hero Award. Matt is unrelenting in his almost vampiric skills of blood taking and it is highly recognised that he is always willing to assist other gates by accepting patients that they have difficulty bleeding. Matt is always polite and despite having a well over 60 bloods in renal alone to do each day he does so efficiently and modestly - never complaining and always with a kind word to each and every one of his patients and colleagues. Matt really is one of NBT’s Heroes, and I want to thank him for all that he has done for department and our patients.