The main hospital trust for Brighton and Hove celebrated the achievements of dozens of staff at its sixth annual Hospital Star Awards.
The final prize of the night – the Chief Executive’s Special Award – went to a man who cleans the operating theatres where cardiac patients have heart surgery at the Royal Sussex County Hospital.
When trust chief executive Matthew Kershaw presented the award to Dosto Mohammed, Mr Kershaw said: “He starts work at 3.30am every morning to ensure that the theatres, anaesthetic room and coffee room are clean, tidy and ready for the day ahead when the surgical team arrives.
“The many colleagues who took the time to nominate him all said the same thing – he works incredibly hard, the quality of his work is outstanding and nothing is too much trouble.
“What they also all say is that he is an incredibly kind and polite man, who always has a smile on his face and is thoroughly lovely to have around.
“What the public don’t realise is that without people like Dosto doing their jobs behind the scenes so efficiently, our clinical teams would not be able to deliver the standard of care that they do.”
Many of the award winners thanked fellow members of the teams in which they worked at the ceremony at the Corn Exchange in Brighton on Tuesday (17 November).
It was, the trust said, “a glittering awards night to recognise and celebrate the efforts of our hospital stars”.
Clinical, non-clinical, frontline and behind-the-scenes staff in departments and clinics across the trust had their hard work recognised.
More than 700 nominations were received for 11 different categories – and the nominations came from colleagues, patients and their families.
Mr Kershaw said: “This event is a real celebration of everything that is good about our hospitals and the people who work in them.
“The fact that 700 of our staff, patients and their relatives took the time to submit a nomination in itself demonstrates how much of what we do matters to people.
“And hearing just a selection of what was said about our winners and runners-up was genuinely uplifting and humbling.”
Here are the other winners and some of the plaudits they received.
- Compassionate Communication
Winner: Karen Creed, Antenatal Screening Midwife, RSCH
“On a daily basis she has the job of breaking bad news to women who have opted to have screening for their unborn baby. She explains the results in the most caring, compassionate and empathetic manner, she is so patient and will do whatever the woman wants her to. Her care is exceptional.”
Runner-up: Hannah Pacifico, PALS Advisor
“I cannot stress enough how good she is with patients and their relatives and how her positive, can-do approach helps their concerns. Her constant cheerful and helpful nature is astonishing given the nature of her role. She is simply exceptional.”
- Outstanding Teamwork
Winner: Chichester Ward, RSCH
“They are like a huge family, who look after patients with the care, dignity and respect they deserve. All members of the team work exceptionally well together and everyone has great respect for each others roles. They work in a manner that empowers staff from all grades to share their views in a supportive way to enable the team to perform so well. They have the sort of team work and spirit we need in the NHS.”
Runner-up: Janice O’Brien, SOTC Theatre Manager
“She has an extraordinary kindness and compassion towards all SOTC staff and she helps the wards in the Princess Royal Hospital as well. She moves all barriers to try and help everybody and ensures they are happy and supported.”
- Exceptional Care
Winner: Yvonne Stone, Children’s and Young Person’s Diabetes Clinical Nurse Specialist
“She is a superstar. She has helped us, unfailingly, every step of the way since our daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. She is knowledgeable and professional and is also incredibly caring and compassionate. The way she interacts with all of us is excellent, she is always kind and we have a laugh too. We’d be lost without her.”
Runner-up: Roel Panagdato, Staff Nurse, Haemodialysis Unit
“He has nursed me for 12 years and is a credit to his profession. He seems to innately know what is bothering a patient and how to calm or reassure them. You know you can turn to him for help and he will give it whenever and wherever it is needed.”
- Innovation and Excellence
Winner: Farzaneh Rahmanpour, Senior Staff Nurse, Sussex Eye Hospital
“Age related macular degeneration is a serious sight threatening condition treated by injections of medication, which have traditionally been carried out by doctors. We needed a nurse to train to do it at BSUH and since taking up the advanced role, she has now safely carried out hundreds of sight saving injections. She was the first to do this in her role at the Trust and one of the first in the south east outside Moorfields. She is providing an amazing service and is making a real difference to patients’ lives.”
Runner-up: Melanie Smith, Senior Paediatric Inpatient Physio
“She has co-created one of Europe’s leading non-invasive ventilation services and, as a result of her individual skill in physiotherapy and her ventilation excellence, we have intubation rates for children with bronchiolitis that are better than the rest of the UK and Europe. This has only been possible because of her.”
- Unsung Hero
Winner: Mark Caplice, Night Porter, RSCH
“He is extremely responsive, efficient and helpful. He is always available and a very knowledgable porter. We nurses and doctors very much appreciate his day-to-day work and we feel that he is the best person to be recognised as a hospital star.”
Runner-up: Philip Chipman, Volunteer, PRH
“He goes out of his way to help new student volunteers and comes in whenever needed, including the weekend and bank holidays, to meet them on their first day and give them an induction to the ward. As a retired HCA he knows the important role that the volunteers play in helping and supporting the staff and by doing extra tasks he frees up time to allow staff to care for patients. We could do with a lot more people like him at the Trust – he is an extraorindary man who just can’t stop giving.”
- Inspirational Role Model/Educator
Winner: Liz Hall, Lead Superintendent Radiographer for Neuroimaging
“The move from Hurstwood Park has been hard and quite stressful at times but she has done everything in her power, sacrificing all elements of her social life (and sanity), to ensure that it went smoothly for us all. She is truly the most dependable person and is forever looking out for and supporting her team.”
Runner-up: Claire Martin, Head of Nursing and Midwifery Education
“She has always been an amazing source of professional support, advice and enthusiasm. After only a few moments in her company, it is clear that education and nursing development is a subject which she feels deeply passionate about. She is someone who you aspire to be.”
- Commitment to Safety
Winner: Community Midwives
“We are extremely fortunate to have a stringent team of midwives working in the community providing an outstanding service. We now have some of the best homebirth rates in the country and the team’s collective working, cohesiveness and communication has improved safety and the quality of care for women and their families.”
Runner-up: Sarah Bright and Niki Ludlow, Manual Handling Trainers
“They have worked tirelessly for many years to improve safety for both our staff and patients and they regularly go above and beyond the call of duty to deliver training in often difficult situations and premises. They are passionate about making the working lives of our staff safer and always put patient dignity at the heart of everything they do.”
- Extraordinary Kindness
Winner: Helen Patrick, Staff Nurse, A&E, RSCH
“She gives exceptional care and kindness in any circumstance, whether the patient is challenging, demanding, or needing emotional support. She is efficient and knowledgeable and shows compassion and sympathy in everything she does.”
Runner-up: Christianne Whitfield, Staff Nurse, Howard 1
“She consistently demonstrated exceptional levels of care and kindness to my terminally ill mother. She was gentle, always kind and caring and she provided even greater comfort and reassurance by speaking to my mother in her native language Italian when communicating with her. She is an absolute star, who possesses the stand out attributes of a nurse and is a credit to the NHS.”
- Championing Change
Winner: Jane Gillanders, Senior Physiotherapist, Outpatients
“She is practically perfect. She is a delightful person, is extremely diligent and is 100% committed to the care of her patients and innovation within the department. She feels very strongly about quality standards and continual professional development and if you want something done, she will do it and add value to ideas. Her patients love her, the staff love her, she is so organised, so positive – she is a real NHS leader of the future.”
Runner-up: Emma Tee, Reconfiguration Team
“She works with a team who need to persuade people to change long held working practices and she fully takes account of how difficult that can be for individuals. She is always ready to listen, to think through solutions and to share ideas. Her contribution is amazing.”
- Brighten up the day
Winner: Hannah Heron, IV Clinical Research Nurse, RSCH
“I have been having chemotherapy for six months and during that time I have been extremely impressed by the commitment and dedication of all the staff but there is one member of the team that especially brightens up my visit. She never fails to surprise me how she remembers our previous conversations, she is always extremely professional and her warm and friendly nature makes a long day more bearable.”
Runner-up: Kimberley Armstrong, HCA, Twineham Ward, PRH
“She is loved by all staff, patients and families and the time she has spent with us on the ward has been truely amazing. At times she brings in her ukulele and sings and plays to our patients and she designed and decorated our dementia bay. She brightens up everyone’s day.
- Motivational Leader
Winner: Dr Romesh Rasanayagam, Clinical Director, Perioperative Division
“He is kind, approachable and patient, even when he is under the most enormous pressure, and he always has the patient’s best interests at heart. He deals with things quickly and thoroughly and acknowledges the work we do in the Anaesthetics Office. He remains cheerful and resilient and listens to all problems within his Department. An exceptional leader.”
Runner-up: Natalie Shillito, Ward Manager, Twineham Ward, PRH
“She has configured and managed a 43 bedded ward by herself and works very hard to keep her staff happy even though she has a lot of pressure on her. She is kind, caring and appreciates her staff and all our hard work. She is an exceptional ward manager.
