Our Future Together Staff Award winners

At LUHFT, we are keen to recognise and reward the achievements of our colleagues and volunteers.

Our Future Together Awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of our colleagues, including those who deliver exceptional service, live our Trust values, and work together to support patients and fellow colleagues. The award categories reflect the Trust’s values and objectives, and those who have made an exceptional contribution to life at LUHFT.

Congratulations to our finalists – we received more than 260 nominations so you should all be incredibly proud for what you contribute, individually and collaboratively to LUHFT.

Employee of the Year:

Shinimol Shibu, Covid Follow-Up Co-ordinator

Over the last 18 months Shinmol’s work has made a massive contribution against each of our strategic priorities of great care, great people, great research and innovation and great ambitions.

Shinimol has been described by others as “rising to the huge challenges of COVID-19”, “demonstrating remarkable professionalism”, “developing novel ways of working” and “supporting others when they were most vulnerable, offering reassurance and hope”.

Team of the Year

Critical Care Team

Dealing with the worst of what the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown at us Critical Care rapidly adapted to new ways of working and has had to cope with substantial pressure throughout.

They have put patient care and safety at the forefront of everything that they do. They have worked incredibly hard to save the lives of patients who were seriously ill. And, at points when they thought that they couldn’t take any more, they have carried on as a team.

Patients’ Champion

Professor Robert Sutton

Nominated and voted for by the public for making a significant impact to patient experience, Professor Robert Sutton provided outstanding support to a patient and guided them through challenging times throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

The patient said: “I had no quality of life, depending on feeding tubes, strong medication, experiencing extreme side effects, broken teeth, falls, sickness and toilet issues - I could not see the point in life as I was alive but not living. Prof Sutton is, not only mine, but my family’s and partner’s hero.

“I couldn’t have visitors pre/post op, but Prof visited and reassured me every step of the way. He is kind, reassuring, knowledgeable and ensures every step and risk is understood. He has restored my faith after the years of issues I have faced.”

Volunteer of the Year

Robert Ferguson

Robert extended his volunteering hours to four days a week to support our family liaison service during COVID-19, acting as a runner between wards, taking messages back and forth and ensuring patients received their belongings.

During the height of the pandemic, nothing was too much for him – he was willing to stay late, to take deliveries to other sites on the shuttle bus, and always willing to go the extra mile to provide support.

Trust Safety Award

IV Access Team

Not only has the work of the IV Access team resulted in improved safety, but also better patient outcomes, time and resource efficiencies and improved practitioner experience.

Following a successful ‘new medical device’ application and implementation of a power injectable midline, the patient benefits can now be seen in the latest data.

Acute and Emergency Medicine Award

Emergency Department Mental Health Link Team

This team that has come together and used their passion to implement an idea that was deemed ‘impossible’. Not only has the Emergency Department Mental Health Link Team transformed the patient journey that we provide, but they have acted as advocates for an often-vulnerable patient cohort. The feedback we have had from our patients and colleagues has been remarkable.

There is no doubt that patients are now safer, risk-assessed and given the appropriate level of support they require on the back of the team’s interventions.

Specialist Medicine Award

CPAP in COVID MDT

The CPAP in COVID MDT responded to one of the biggest challenges that our Trust has faced by developing and implementing a completely new service within a matter of days.

The goal was to provide safe, well-led, robust, patient-centred care. On the back of this new service, the work has received national recognition, so that other teams across the country can learn from our experience.

Surgery Award

Urology Outpatients Theatres Team

The Urology Outpatients Theatres Team have improved the quality of patient care, and demonstrated massive efficiencies in their area. Through a collaborative approach, they have been able to avoid delays to treatment, reduce length of stays and improve overall patient experience.

Anaesthetics, Critical Care, Head and Neck and Theatres Award

Critical Care Team

The Critical Care Team had to respond to unprecedented COVID-19 challenges, with consistently high levels of pressure providing our patients with the best care they could. This required new ways of working and exceptional teamwork.

For their ongoing work to support our COVID-19 patients, Critical Care have been named the deserving winners of this category.

Diagnostics and Support Services Award

Therapies Care Group

Therapies Care Group demonstrated that despite the challenges of the last 18 months, they have managed to achieve a great deal in relation to the benefits of coming together through merger.

Their focus has been on working as one to provide consistent and effective care across all of our sites.

Corporate Services Award

Psychology Team

The Psychology Team provided a service that supported colleagues when they found the impact of COVID-19 to be particularly tough. One colleague described the team as “true life savers”.

The team provided support sessions for wards and clinical areas, virtually for specialist teams, drop-in sessions in the wellbeing hubs, as well as crisis support, all providing guidance and somewhere for staff to discuss their experiences.