Celebrations at our annual staff awards night

Teams and individuals working in NHS community services across Lincolnshire have been recognised for their dedication at this year's Celebrating Success Awards.

LCHS held their 2019 staff awards on Friday, 15 November at the Petwood Hotel in Woodhall Spa.

Almost one hundred people attended the awards evening, including the judges of the awards and the sponsors who supported the ceremony.

LCHS is proud of its staff and volunteers, whose dedication and commitment to delivering outstanding care makes a huge difference in the communities we serve.

The organisation recognises and commends these achievements through the annual Celebrating Success Awards.

Over 125 entries were received for teams and individuals from across Lincolnshire for the 12 categories.

The award categories are closely aligned to the values that were developed with LCHS staff, which are articulated through the LCHS Way: we listen, we care, we act and we improve.

The 2019 winners were:

• Patient Involvement Award: Community Respiratory Team
• Behind the Scenes Award: Digital Health Team
• Volunteer of the Year Award: Carol and Ernie Wilkinson
• Balancing Quality and Finance: Children’s Physiotherapy Rapid Response Team
• Contributing to Lincolnshire’s Health System: Michelle Porter, Tissue Viability Clinical Nurse Specialist
• Special Recognition Award: Jo Checkley, Heart Failure Advanced Nurse Practitioner
• Innovation Award: eConsultations Team
• Leadership Award – Clinical: Karen Cox, Senior Clinical Nurse Specialist Respiratory
• Leadership Award – Non-Clinical: Steve Jackson, Lincoln Urgent Care Co-ordinator
• Clinical Team of the Year Award: Community Tuberculosis Team
• Non-Clinical Team of the Year: Learning and Development
• Chair’s Award, Living the LCHS Way: Nicola Rose, Case Manager

The Children’s Physiotherapy Rapid Response Team won the Balancing Quality and Finance Award.

They achieved funding to provide a brand new service to support hospital avoidance and care closer to home.  The Children’s Physiotherapy Rapid Response Respiratory service was launched in February and provides specialist assessment, treatment and management of children with complex physical disabilities with additional respiratory problems in the community.  

Since February the service has prevented over 27 hospital admissions, over 80 Accident and Emergency attendances and over 70 out of hours or urgent GP appointments.

Katie Clements, Children’s Physiotherapy Professional Advisor at LCHS said: “It’s taken three years of hard work and dedication to get here. I’m really proud of the impact and success of the service in decreasing hospital admissions and increasing the quality of life for the children we work with.”

Nicola Rose, a community nurse case manager won the Chair’s Award. Her nomination cited she had consistently shown her leadership qualities and demonstrated resilience by riding her bike to see local patients, while she is unable to drive, due to medical reasons.

She was said to have triumphed against adversity following complex surgery and since returning to work had successfully gained promotion.

Nicola who lives and works in North Hykeham said: “I’d like to thank the Lincoln South District Nursing team for their help and support in getting me back to work.

“To win this award is unexpected, but I’m proud to receive it and it means a lot, especially after the year I’ve had.”

A raffle on the night raised £300 for the Trust’s charity Charitable Funds. This is an independent charity that plays a vital role in supporting LCHS to make a difference to patient care. Charitable Funds supports innovative projects to enhance services and facilities that would not be funded by the NHS. The prizes were all generously donated by local businesses.

Elaine Baylis, LCHS Chair, said: "Celebrating Success is a wonderful opportunity for us to reflect on the past year and to recognise some of those teams and individuals who are making a real difference to our patients every day.

 “The calibre of our nominations gave our judging panel a real challenge and it was a pleasure to showcase great innovation, leadership and best practice.

“We have so many outstanding staff that it would be great to acknowledge everyone; however the nominations highlight exceptional individuals and teams.

“Thank you to our sponsors, guests and staff that helped make it a truly inspiring and memorable occasion."