Staff accolades

A young woman who underwent emergency surgery at Royal Derby Hospital has thanked the surgeon who saved her life.

Jess Wilson from Derby, nominated Consultant Laparoscopic & Upper GI Surgeon, Mr Syed Iftikhar, after he performed emergency surgery on her in August 2020. Jess was in hospital with a bile leak which lead to Pneumonia and Sepsis – this required surgery immediately. Mr Iftikhar, who has worked at the Trust for over 25 years, was on a day off, but as soon as he heard Jess needed the surgery, he drove straight to the Royal Derby Hospital to assist.

Security staff serving the Royal Derby Hospital have been recognised by Trust Chief Executive, Gavin Boyle, for protecting staff, patients and visitors when ‘Covid-19 denying’ protesters turned up at the entrance of our Derby site back in November 2020.

The Security Team went above and beyond to control the unfortunate situation and ensured staff and patients felt safe despite the negative actions of those who turned up on multiple occasions to share their misguided thoughts on the on-going pandemic

A UHDB colleague has received a special award for making it her mission to teach, support and guide one of our Project Search interns.

Laura Waterworth, Midwife at Queen’s Hospital Burton, has been awarded the June “Patient Hero” Making a Difference Award for her compassionate care throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Laura was nominated by a patient named Katie, who recently had to give birth in isolation due to being in contact with her dad and sister who had both contracted Coronavirus.

A UHDB senior nurse has received a special award for going above and beyond for her colleagues and returning to work in our Intensive Care Unit throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Barbara Day, Head of Professional & Practice Development, was presented with the Trust’s Excellent Employee award after being nominated by a number of her colleagues who praised her excellent leadership and support that she had provided to them and to other departments throughout the pandemic.

The fantastic lengths a Royal Derby Hospital Senior Sister went to in order to help and support a colleague and their relative have been recognised with a Making a Difference Award.

Rachel Kirby, Senior Sister on Ward 311, truly went above and beyond what was expected when her ward became a ward that cared for elderly Covid-19 patients at the start of the pandemic.

A Healthcare Assistant from London Road Community Hospital has been praised for her outstanding patient care with our “Excellent Employee Award”.

Lesley Shaw, who works in the Parkinson’s Team, was nominated by a colleagues for her friendliness and gentle manner and always putting the patients first. Her colleague Fiona Lindop, Specialist Physiotherapist said: “Lesley is an amazing team member who is always putting the patient first. She greets each patient who arrives in our department with friendliness and gentleness that puts them at their ease, especially in these challenging times. She demonstrates her care for everyone, including helping individuals who have had strokes, and can only use one hand, to gel their hands as they arrive in the department. She ensures that each person is treated with great dignity and respect, no matter how busy or stressful the working environment is.

Congratulations to Paul Brooks, Director of Patient Experience, Estates and Facilities at UHDB, who has been awarded our January “Chief Executive Award”.

Paul, who has worked at the Trust for over 30 years, was chosen by Gavin Boyle, our Chief Executive, to celebrate Paul’s achievements over the last few months. Not only has Paul showed great dedication and commitment to supporting UHDB colleagues throughout the on-going pandemic, but he has most recently been awarded an MBE for his services to Healthcare Leadership.