Staff accolades

Two Stores Coordinators based at the Royal Derby Hospital's Renal Unit have been recognised for their exceptional work ethic and dedicated approach to supporting patients and colleagues alike.

Keir Biggins and Andy Redfern help facilitate hundreds of dialysis sessions over the course of the week - as many as 120 a day, six days a week - both within the unit and in the community for patients who require dialysis at home.

Showing compassion, care and flexibility in what can be a challenging role both physically and emotionally, they play a major part in the efficient and smooth running of the unit, working adaptively and flexibly to any logistic challenge they may face - such as the procurement, monitoring and distribution of key consumable equipment.

A 'humble' doctor who helped a patient recently diagnosed with cancer, has been recognised with a Patient Hero award for their compassion and making a significant impact to the patient and his family during their time at the Trust.

An ISS porter at our Royal Derby Hospital site, whose quick-thinking and fast actions helped save a patient's life, has been shortlisted as a finalist for the Porter of the Year Award at this year’s National MyPorter Awards, held in association with NHS England.

Dom Attenborough, who was recently presented with a Patient Hero Making a Difference Award for his kindness and compassion when helping a patient and their family, was performing routine checks at the main entrance of Royal Derby Hospital when he was approached by a Security Officer for help with a distressed individual who entered the hospital with life-threatening wounds.

A multi-disciplinary team went 'above and beyond' to support a patient admitted to hospital with complex health issues and are being recognised for their hard work with the 'Team UHDB' Making a Difference Award.

A porter at UHDB has been presented with a special Derbyshire Constabulary award to commend him after his quick-thinking actions helped to save the lives of members of the public in Derby.

Keith Watson, who typically works in the A&E department at Royal Derby Hospital, was walking his two dogs on the way to care for a relative when he spotted some distressed individuals and acted quickly to ensure their safety.

A Stoma Nurse at Royal Derby Hospital has been praised by a patient for being her "NHS Angel" while they undergo extensive treatment for a cancer diagnosis.

In a letter, the patient lauded Lisa Cockram for her holistic support to both themselves as well as their family, amid what they described as "devastating" diagnosis for which they are undergoing extensive treatments and surgeries.

This included following the patient's treatment journey; providing information on support networks and tips on how they can manage their concerns and access resources - including mental health support; and holding difficult yet compassionate conversations with the patient's immediate family, including very young children.

A member of the Car Parking team at Royal Derby Hospital has been praised for his "act of kindness" in helping a patient make it to their appointment on time.

Sue Stocks became stuck in heavy traffic when driving her mother, Margaret Wallis, to her appointment in the Kings Treatment Centre, and was becoming concerned about making the appointment time.

A Senior Sister at Queen's Hospital Burton's Emergency Department has been praised for her desire and commitment to providing a development programme for junior Sisters and Charge Nurses to help them to develop their leadership, clinical knowledge, and managerial skills.

Josie Murphy acted on feedback from colleagues who expressed a desire to undertake more training within the department to aid their career progression after taking on senior roles in the team, such as Sister and Charge Nurse.

The impact of Josie's compassionate approach to leadership and development saw her awarded with our latest Excellent Employee Monthly Making a Difference Award - which was presented to Josie by Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Chief Executive, Simon Crowther, alongside several members of QHB ED in a surprise ceremony.  

A housekeeper who is proactively trying to reduce waste and promote sustainability while also keeping her department clean and safe is now the proud winner of the latest CEO Making a Difference Award.

A male breast cancer patient has praised the team at Royal Derby Hospital's Breast Unit for the care they provided to him after his recent treatment for the disease. 69-year-old Mike Burrows, from Ashbourne, Derbyshire, says he felt "out of his depth" as a male undergoing treatment for a condition largely associated with females, and heaped praise on the incredibly "supportive" team who helped him through his treatment.

A team of compassionate nurses working to ensure more children can receive end of life care at home with their loved ones has been recognised nationally after winning a Nursing Times Award - as well as being shortlisted for a second award. UHDB's Childrens' Community Nursing Team, working in partnership with colleagues from Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) and Derbyshire Healthcare United (DHU), formed the 'Derbyshire Paediatric Palliative Care Urgent Response Service', to assist children to die in their own homes with their families and home comforts close by, when they otherwise have been admitted to a hospital or hospice.

An innovative project which embeds medical students into the Patient Experience team to help them gain a deeper understanding of a patient's time spent in hospital has been recognised after being shortlisted for a national award. The Paediatric Medical Students Patient Experience and Quality Improvement Special Study Module (SSM), was developed after colleagues at UHDB identified a gap in the curriculum for students around understanding the full patient journey and the experiences of patients who require admission to our hospitals.

Thanks to the hard work and commitment of the Trust's Anaesthetics team, spearheaded by Anaesthetic Registrar, Dr Alex Churton, the use of desflurane has been reduced dramatically since 2022 - vastly reducing the amount of CO2 produced by the Trust while continuing to provide safe and effective anaesthesia to patients.

The Neonatal team at Queen's Hospital Burton has been awarded the Bliss Baby Charter Gold accreditation, which recognises exemplary care to the babies cared for in the unit and their families.

The team, which cares for babies who are unwell or have been born prematurely, is one of only 13 departments to achieve Gold accreditation out of 191 units in the UK.

We are delighted to announce that Associate Professor and Honorary Consultant in Diabetes, Dr Emma Wilmot, has been shortlisted for a national award for her work to use technology to help people with diabetes to manage their condition with greater ease.

The Liver team at Royal Derby Hospital has been recognised nationally for providing exceptional care for patients with liver disease - becoming the first centre in the East Midlands and the eleventh centre in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to do so. The team demonstrated to Improving Quality in Liver Services (IQILS) assessors that they are providing safe care, improving services to those diagnosed with liver problems and developing plans to continue to evolve the service.  

Congratulations to our colleagues from Joined Up Care Derbyshire's (JUCD) Wellbeing team, who have made the final shortlist in the Menopause Friendly Employer Awards.

The awards, which are also a fund-raiser for menopause-related charities. programmes and research, work to shine a light on organisations that go above and beyond to improve support and facilities for colleagues who are experiencing menopause.

Colleagues and patients alike have heaped praise on Sir Robert Peel Community Hospital's newest ward for the high standards of care provided after opening just 13 weeks ago. Philip Ward, which opened on 28 November 2022, was opened after just six weeks of planning and preparation work by the team.

A compassionate member of the Imaging Team has been presented with our latest Excellent Employee Award for the care and support he provided to a patient at Royal Derby Hospital.

A team that displays exceptional care to both their patients and their staff with their ‘smiling faces’ and reassuring words, has been recognised with a Making a Difference Award.

The Paediatric Assessment Unit (PAU) team at Queen’s Hospital Burton has received the ‘Team UHDB’ award for their dedication to their patients and their peers after a new member of staff nominated them.

The team at Royal Derby Hospital’s Emergency Department have been presented with a Monthly Making a Difference Award after glowing feedback after caring for a patient who had suffered a fall. The nomination, which stated the team “deserve a medal, each and every one of you”, praised the ED Team for the care and compassion the patient received when attending the department after what they described as “a bad fall”.

A team who helped support five refugee nurses as they moved from their home in Lebanon to work for UHDB, have been shortlisted for the Best UK Employer of the Year for Nursing Staff Award in this year’s Nursing Times awards.

On Friday 14 October, UHDB held it’s first in-person awards ceremony in three years at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, with 260 members of #TeamUHDB joining in an evening of celebrating exceptional care together.

The glamorous awards ceremony, hosted by local radio DJ Mark O’Sullivan, saw nominees for 10 awards come together to celebrate in what was a night to remember.

A huge congratulations to the Estates and Facilities and Patient Experience Team, who were the runners up for the Team of the Year Category at the IHEEM Healthcare Estates 2022.

A UHDB colleague who went above and beyond in her care of a patient, has been praised by an ex-nurse, who witnessed her compassion, and deemed her worthy of the prestigious Cavell Star award.

Mary White, a former Clinical Nurse Specialist, was a patient on Ward 308 at Royal Derby Hospital in December last year when she first met Senior Sister Mandie Linnington.

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton Estates and Facilities and Patient Experience team have been shortlisted for Estates and Facilities Team of the Year at The Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management (IHEEM) Awards 2022.

UHDB’s very own International Nurse Facilitator Aldarico Velasco is delighted to have been shortlisted for a Nursing Times Workforce Awards 2022 in the category ‘Overseas Nurse of the Year.’

Aldarico, who joined the Trust three years ago, said it is a great honour to have been shortlisted for the accolade and it is a nod to the amazing contribution from all the Internationally Educated nurses and overseas nurses that work across UHDB.

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton are proud that an emergency department (ED) team and an ED sister have been recognised in two categories in this year’s Nursing Times Award.

The High Intensity User Service has been shortlisted for the Emergency and Critical Care category and emergency department sister Charlotte Malcolm-Davies (Charlie) has been shortlisted for the prestigious Nurse of the Year Award for her work as part of the High Intensity User Service, alongside her role in nursing ED.

Joanne Lloyd, a Healthcare Assistant (HCA) at Royal Derby Hospital, has been awarded with a Cavell Star – a nursing award created by the Cavell Nurses’ Trust for nurses, midwives and HCAs who show exceptional care.

Patrick Kumah, a Consultant Biomedical Scientist specialising in gastrointestinal histopathology at Royal Derby Hospital, has been recognised for his work in The Pathologist’s 2022 International Power List.