Brighton hospital boss pays tribute to unsung heroes

The chief executive of Brighton and Hove’s main hospital trust has paid tribute to the unsung heroes among his staff in his Christmas message.

Matthew Kershaw, who runs the Royal Sussex County Hospital, said that he wanted to mention “a few individuals and teams whose roles are perhaps less obvious than our doctors, nurses and other frontline clinical staff but are still fundamental to providing the best care we can for our patients”.

Mr Kershaw, the chief executive of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “My point in mentioning a few people is not to single them out as more important but to acknowledge and pay tribute to the essential contribution of everyone who works here.”

Those mentioned included

Our service managers are more often than not the “go to” people when things go wrong but, I think it is fair to say, rarely get the credit when things go well. They need to be master of all trades and their role is fundamental to the effective and efficient running of the hospital.
Our switchboard operators, the voices at the end of the phone when people call, who are there every minute of the day and night and who, in a 24-hour period, deal with around 7,000 calls at the County and 2,500 at the Princess Royal Hospital (in Haywards Heath).
Nicky Rogerson and her staff in our payroll department who ensure over 7,000 people get paid on time each week or month and that we all got paid early this month which is a massive logistical challenge (and I am sure extremely welcome).
The small army of people who don’t get paid for their time, effort and expertise – our volunteers, Leagues of Friends, other fundraising organisations like Rockinghorse and the Sussex Cancer Fund, and the relatively new Sing to Enjoy Choir whose carol concert I had the pleasure of attending.
The team in Medical Records at Freshfields, who store, distribute and keep track of over two million sets of clinical notes.
Tony Scott, runner-up Cleaner of the Year in the Hospital Star Awards, who always stops for a chat when I see him and speaks with passion and pride about his part in enhancing the clinical care and the experience of the patients in the areas he cleans.