Local Staff Awards Winners 2021

Team of the Year

Estates Team – Inverclyde Royal Hospital

The Estates Team are regarded as the ‘unsung heroes’ of IRH site.  They demonstrate true commitment, pro-active efficiency, planning and fast responses to requests from across the hospital.

During the pandemic, the team were key to enabling structural changes needed to ensure safe clinic areas and patient pathways, including for example, expansion to ITU within the theatre area, front desk area within the main entrance, extensive floor markings and signage. The Team also oversaw the co-ordinating & enabling of a major power supply project, working closely with clinical colleagues to ensure minimal impact to clinical care & continued smooth running of the site.

Employee of the Year

Sandra Forbes – Occupational Therapist, Larkfield Unit, IRH

Sandra is described as a passionate & committed OT who regularly goes above & beyond to meet patients’ needs.

In a bid to create something positive during the bleak time through Covid, Sandra decided to transform the courtyard garden area between Ward 1 & Day Hospital in the Larkfield Unit, and established the Rainbow Garden.

She recognised the therapeutic benefits of the garden and that it would provide a tranquil and secluded environment for patients, visitors and staff.  It has been used regularly since the improvements were made.

Leader of the Year

Claire O’Neill – Clinical Service Manager, Palliative Care

Claire is truly supportive personally and professionally to her team members, who work in a particularly stressful board-wide specialty.

This has been especially evident during Covid, when Claire has made a significant contribution to patient care and the wellbeing of colleagues.

She is regarded as having a can-do and solution-focused approach to her role and in the way she manages the Palliative Care service.

The nomination for Claire included a personal account of the support she provided to a new colleague and their appreciation of the ways in which she helped them integrate into the team and address workload challenges.

Innovation of the Year

John Hunter, Dr Lisa Gemmell, Dr Christina Evans, Dr Radha Sundaram – Intensive Care Unit, Royal Alexandra Hospital

The team developed a new protocol to support critically ill patients with SARS-Cov-2 who required RRT (Renal Replacement Therapy).

This was an alternative to the approach implemented by other units, and involved increased citrate for patients, and sought to balance the benefits of preserving filter cartridge lifespan and risks of anticoagulation associated bleeding.

Intensive support was provided by John as Practice Educator, who personally supervised operational issues, at a time when clinical activity was immense within the unit. The study showed an increase in filter life for patients on an increased citrate dose, without any adverse outcomes.

Volunteer of the Year

Harry Balch – Volunteer Manager

The Volunteer teams provide valuable support to staff, patients and families in the Clyde hospitals, including in wards, Give and Go service, and staffing the Royal Alexandra Hospital Staff Rest and Recuperation Hub.

The Sector felt it was important to specifically acknowledge Harry Balch, who expertly guides the teams, responding quickly to the requests from services, ensuring well organised and co-ordinated support is directed where it is needed most.

This was especially true during the pandemic, when many new volunteers came on board, and Harry had to ensure they worked within safe protocols, felt confident in their roles and were effectively supported.

Employee of the Year

Dr Aleks Marek – Consultant Microbiologist/Infection Control Doctor, Microbiology

Dr Aleks Marek is playing a pivotal role in leading the Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) through the extremely difficult challenge of managing Covid. Aleks has helped every clinician in the North Sector during the Covid pandemic, providing advice and guidance throughout, running every Incident Management team meeting and being at the end of a phone for every challenging decision. She is always kind and helpful even in difficult circumstances. The GRI would not have managed through the Covid pandemic without her help, leadership and guidance.

Leader of the Year

Julie Graham – Senior Charge Nurse (SCN)

Julie Graham, SCN Ward 56, which is usually the Gynaecology elective and emergency ward, but during COVID has been used as a COVID hub ward and medical contact ward. Julie has led her team through a hugely challenging year and most recently some very challenging weeks.

Julie’s approach has been one of ‘can do’, whilst keeping patient safety and the wellbeing of her team at the forefront.  For the GRI site having Julie and her team approach every challenge with this attitude has made the difficult operational ward moves much easier. 

Innovation of the Year

Josef Rae, Connor McKeown and Susannah Waters – Physiotherapy COVID-19 High Dependency Unit Team

During the second wave of the COVID pandemic a team of redeployed Rotational Physiotherapists came together to provide a Physiotherapy Service to the COVID High Dependency Unit (CHDU). This was not only to assist in providing early rehabilitation but also to support nursing staff with oxygen delivery and nursing roles.

The objectives were to assist nursing staff with basic nursing care, allowing breaks from PPE, to provide advice and knowledge of oxygen and CPAP therapy to nursing staff that had not been exposed to this before as well as setting out to achieve the Physiotherapy goal of providing early rehabilitation for patients.

Volunteer of the Year

North Sector Volunteers

This especially young team of individuals has offered an invaluable service to our organisation throughout the pandemic. They politely and eloquently handled our front door for the general public at a very challenging time. Patients received their personal belongings that provided them with contact with their families and loved ones. They were remarkable young folk with a constant smile and support to our stretched teams on the ground and provided a significant contribution to patient centred care, consistently demonstrating an exemplary focus on our patients and ensuring they are treated with care, compassion, dignity and respect in receiving safe and high quality care.

Wellbeing Champion Award

Dr Ross Shearer – Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Specialist Weight Management Service

Dr Ross Shearer has been awarded the ‘Wellbeing Champion’ Award in the North Sector in recognition of the significant contribution he has made to the health and wellbeing of our staff, in taking action to ensure we are as healthy and as well as can be, and increasing our resilience as a workforce.

Throughout the pandemic Ross has provided psychological support and advice to colleagues across NHSGGC. Ross attended various R&R hubs across NHSGGC’s sites offering psychological support and advice, and offered sessions over the phone and in small staff groups.

Team of the Year

Team South

The South Sector would like to take the opportunity to thank all our colleagues for the outstanding work and contribution they have all made to patient care during the most difficult period we have ever experienced. This award is to put on record that all colleagues and teams across the South Sector came together to help support and assist each other to meet the challenges and deliver the best care for our patients during a global pandemic.

Employee of the Year

Terri Hunter – Organisational Development Lead

Terri has assisted a number of teams and individuals across the South Sector since joining the sector.

The appreciation and understanding of the work of OD has risen as Team relationships/Service developments and Organisational change projects have all benefited from her innovative approaches to resolving issues & concerns. Terri was also integral to the development and installation of the R&R hubs within South Sector Hospitals ensuring they were staffed and resourced during the most difficult Covid periods.

Leader of the Year

Katherine Bingham and Katie Ellis, Chief Residents – Department of Medicine for the Elderly

Together, the Chief Residents have played a vital role in facilitating good communication of the important issues within the department. They have organised and lead upon some key initiatives including:

• Monthly junior doctor forum discussions to explore administrative and wellbeing issues
• Compiling a weekly newsletter detailing latest updates that is circulated to all medical staff.

In addition the Chief Residents have lead on a comprehensive Wellbeing QI programme throughout the past 18 months. Numerous ‘events’ have been run all with the aim of boosting morale and teamwork in the trainees.

Innovation of the Year

Quality Improvement South Sector (QISS)

The QISS team have developed a strategy for raising the profile of Quality Improvement (QI) in the South Sector. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, all involved have endeavoured to mentor interested staff members as they undertake QI projects in our clinical areas. In the past eighteen months, 21 projects have received input from the team.

The Team have launched a share-point website as a resource for all south sector staff. This provides QI information and toolkits, links to our mentoring services and signposting to training opportunities.

Volunteer of the Year

Mary Nolan

Mary managed the Give and Go project allowing relatives, who were unable to see patients on the wards, to ensure their loved ones received some home comforts during their stay. Mary was also led on the return of the Volunteer teams to the Hospital sites ensuring individuals where supported and assisted during the initial stages of the restart addressing and answering their individual concerns.

Team of the Year

Virology Laboratories

All staff at every level within Virology have performed exceptionally well under extreme and sustained pressure over the course of the pandemic, coming together to not only design, establish and commission a brand new laboratory, but to enhance the existing NHS Lab in order to upscale and maintain large volume testing for COVID-19. This includes the clinical liaison and advice provided both internally and at the national level. A large number of staff volunteered to work excess hours and extended working hours in order to ensure that all could access timely and effective diagnostic testing and advice.

Employee of the Year

Bernadette Finlay – Clinical Services Manager, Laboratory Medicine

Bernadette was the driving force behind the rapid upscaling of current COVID-19 testing capacity and the formation of the West Regional Hub for COVID testing. Working tirelessly for months over the course of the pandemic, often on her days off to increase our COVID testing capacity, Bernadette grew capacity from 300 samples to 3,330 samples per day. This included inputting to designing and commissioning a bespoke Laboratory for large volume COVID testing.

Her ability to maintain her composure under high stress and during periods of frenetic activity was second to none and instrumental to achieving something in 3 months, which would otherwise take 18 – 24 months.

Leader of the Year

Dr Ted Mullen – Head of Service, Medical Equipment Management, Medical Physics

When COVID-19 arrived, as the Head of Service, Ted took on so much more. He galvanised the Gartnavel General Team to use their innovative technical skills to repurpose anaesthetic machines into ventilators. He worked with the Louisa Jordan Hospital Team to medically equip the facility and make it fit for purpose. His leadership qualities, knowledge and expertise and can do attitude was recognised by the Scottish Government and as a result he was asked to direct the NHS Scotland project that was to result in the repurposing of approximately 200 anaesthetic machines into ventilators.

Innovation of the Year

Robin Dade, Kirsty Jones & Craig Paterson – Glasgow Royal Infirmary Nuclear Physics Team

The department successfully established the UK’s first routine Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) Coronary Flow Reserve (CFR) service. The service was set-up using a state of the art Solid State Gamma Camera (the first of its type in Scotland), and was done in collaboration with both GE Healthcare and Cardiology colleagues in Italy. This new service is now available to Cardiology referrers throughout the West coast of Scotland, from Dumfries and Galloway to the Western Isles. Establishing a SPECT CFR service has been critical in giving clinicians in NHSGGC an additional routinely available tool to aid with the assessment of diagnostically complex cardiac patients.

Team of the Year (joint winners)

Care at Home Service

This service entered the pandemic in a state of upheaval following a difficult review process and requiring the introduction of a new structure. They maintained support to customers throughout the pandemic and did not suspend or reduce a single package of support. Dealt with higher demand of community and hospital referrals. An anonymised customer survey indicated positive perceptions of the service.

District Nursing Service

The District Nursing service continued to visit vulnerable patients often the only service received by patients and families at the beginning of the pandemic. They provided emotional, psychological and spiritual support to patients and their families allowing care to be provided in the patient’s place of choosing. They demonstrated effective team working, resilience, flexibility and creativity to ensure safe, effective person centred care to meet the increased demands on the service.

Employee of the Year

Kerry Donoghue and Michelle Dalgarno

Kerry and Michelle were redeployed to support the setting up and running of the Kirkintilloch Covid Assessment Centre, including providing clinical induction to local GPs and providing a significant proportion of clinical shifts to assess extremely ill and deteriorating Covid patients during the first wave. They demonstrated extreme skill in developing safe and effective practices and procedures for the CAC. They provided enhanced clinical support to Care Home residents when homes were in active Covid outbreak during the first wave. Feedback from Care Home staff, GP’s and families is this this service was of significant value.

Leader of the Year

Vandrew McLean

Vandrew joined the HSCP in March 2020 and quickly made a positive contribution. She ensured that business support teams were mobilised effectively to support front line staff during these challenging times by supporting the set-up of the PPE hub, setting up a team to support the covid vaccination programme/testing, undertaking risk assessments and working with council colleagues across our buildings and putting in place arrangements to ensure these were safe places for staff to continue to deliver critical services

Innovation of the Year (joint winners)

Perinatal Project – Children & Families and Primary Care Mental Health

Working in partnership the mental health services and health visitors provided information sessions and access to an enhanced range of treatment options for new mothers to support children’s wellbeing.  They developed a project plan capturing a range of services that support mothers experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties in the post-natal period.  They provided new mothers access to group work, access to 1-1 sessions using tools to support mental health and wellbeing through universal services.

Paediatric Dental Team, Public Dental Service

The Public Dental Service provides care to children who have additional needs, medical conditions and extensive decay and who are at risk of high levels of associated pain. In order to alleviate this dental pain and discomfort, historically the best available option has been extractions under general aesthetic. However, due to the Covid pandemic and restrictions on access to theatre the team took the opportunity to look at innovative and alternative models of care that could improve child health and wellbeing allowing them to avoid a GA pathway and receive less invasive and more holistic dental care in a timely manner, in a local dental setting.

Volunteer of the Year

Public Service User and Carer Group

During the lockdown period the group supported the development and distribution of regular public health information through a monthly newsletter. The publication highlighted the spread and impact of Covid within and across East Dunbartonshire, promoting the community immunisation clinics and advised where to access the most up to date data and information towards keeping their families safe and well. The group developed a series of public health ‘Biteable’ social media videos; detailing crucial information for the local community, including changes and how to access General Practice. 

Team of the Year

Care Home Assurance Team

From the beginning of the pandemic our commissioning team started daily contact with care homes.

When outbreaks started, it became clear they needed additional support. Many found themselves short of staff as they too became sick with the virus or were self-isolating/shielding.

Having identified the growing problem, the HSCP quickly mobilised and the Care Home Assurance team was created.

The team was made up of staff from a range of services including commissioning, nursing, rehab, social work and older adult’s mental health. The aim was to provide support to all 13 care homes in East Renfrewshire to help control any COVID-19 outbreaks, ensure preventative measures were in place and to bring health and social care services together to best support each home. 

Employee of the Year

Jennifer Clark – Business Manager for Recovery & Resources

Jennifer Clark’s role encompasses responsibility for premises, lead role for Health and Safety, updating and maintaining the Business Continuity in addition to having direct line management for nine members of staff.

Jennifer started the role in January 2020 and within two months the HSCP had moved to an emergency footing as the partnership responded to the pandemic.

She has worked closely with staff members to build and develop team work across the teams she has responsibility for, creating a “can do” culture where staff are keen to work together and engage in new approaches to support the partnership to achieve its key objectives.  

Leader of the Year

Mairi-Clare Armstrong – Governance and Systems Manager

Mairi-Clare manages over 100 members of staff. This includes the entire Business Support output for the HSCP, Facilities Management for Eastwood and Barrhead Health and Care Centres, HSCP Change Programme (now Recovery and Renewal), Information and Systems, Governance and the DMT Personal Assistants.

Mairi-Clare is the backbone of the HSCP, she helps everything behind the scenes work together and empowers her teams to deliver their own work to a high standard. While her normal role makes her invaluable to the HSCP, she has also been responsible for leading significant projects during the pandemic.

Innovation of the Year

Children’s Services Partnership, Enrichment Activity Programme

During the second lockdown the HSCP Children & Families service was worried about the young people known to their service, as they were spending lots of time indoors and had disengaged from learning, activities, clubs and their communities.

They wanted to deliver a project that would provide young people of all ages the opportunity to try new skills outside of their home, build confidence, encourage them to socialise again and to help them feel part of their community.

As a result the Enrichment Activity Programme was devised. The team went the extra mile at every stage of this project. They provided an enriching experience for the young people they support.

Local Staff Winners

eHealth Team – Setup and Management of Community Assessment Centres/Testing

This significant project needed to be set up rapidly through a collaboration of work by all of the eHealth team (Operations, Strategy and Programmes, Information Management and Health Records). Operations and telecommunications were pivotal in setting up a new call centre with all of the appropriate telephony and IT kit. The set-up had to be done in a way that utilised existing clinical systems capability to support the newly defined pathways – ensuring those patients requiring tests, admitted or remotely monitored were captured and managed accordingly. A completely new patient booking system which enabled patients to contact the Centre to change appointments or to email queries relating to the vaccine, where appropriate.  

eHealth Team – Setup and recording of Virtual Patient Appointments

The focus of this project was to rapidly accelerate the set-up, management and data recording of Virtual Patient Appointments for acute and primary care. This allowed optimisation of virtual patient appointment management including the delivery of 

• ACRT management of referrals
• Establishing processes for Patient Initiated Review.

This project was critical to the Board’s ability to maintain outpatient and GP appointments in response to the pandemic. 

This programme of work involved all eHealth teams including, Strategy and Programmes, Operations, Information Management, Information Governance and Health Records staff.

eHealth Team – contribution to the Board Covid Vaccination Programme

The eHealth team was pivotal in working with the NHSGGC Vaccination team to put the technology, telephony, reporting and for recruiting, defining working processes and training the contact centre staffing required to support the Board Covid Vaccination Programme. 

eHealth and the wider GGC vaccination team worked with NES to develop the Vaccination Management Tool which was rolled out across NHSScotland to record vaccinations across all settings. 

eHealth teams also supported the set-up of the vaccination centres for staff and the public without which the Board would not have been able to start the vaccination programme as swiftly as it did and to maintain it as efficiently as it is now doing.

eHealth Team – set up and management of Flow Hubs

This project involved the rapid Introduction of Patient Flow Hubs to direct patients to appropriate services to reduce unnecessary pressures on Emergency Department attendances. eHealth were key stakeholders in the redesign of urgent care pathways to direct patients to the appropriate service where this is clinically appropriate and safe to do so. A key element of the change was the implementation of a Flow Navigation Centre (Hub) to support the appropriate flow of patients.

Health Records played a central role in coordinating operational activity to ensure patients were booked in a timely manner. The collaboration and flexibility demonstrated by eHealth teams cannot be understated and formed a key part of the Board’s response to improving unscheduled care.

Team of the Year

Inverclyde Royal Hospital Estates Team and Ross Campbell – Site Operational Estates Manager

The Inverclyde Royal Hospital Estates Team were faced with replacing non-compliant switchgear components to safeguard the resilience of the main hospital electrical supply to both critical and non-critical services on the site. Ross Campbell, Site Operational Estates Manager, and his team embarked on an extensive and very difficult programme of modernising electrical switchboard components. This project had to be carried out whilst the hospital was at full patient capacity, and at the height of the pandemic in 2020 which added another level of complexity. The team have shown a huge commitment to their roles and were acutely aware of the impact that would be experienced if the work was not carried out meticulously.

Employee of the Year

Mark McKaig – Coordinating Supervisor, Estates, QEUH

In a department which has endured significant challenges and change over the last couple of years, including through the COVID Pandemic, Mark has continually demonstrated his significant value to the Estates Team and has played a pivotal role in the evolution of the Estates department, who are widely respected throughout the campus for their committed, caring and professional approach.

Mark’s work ethos and approach to his day to day duties and responsibilities are exemplary and he sets such high standards in all aspects of his role, which has had a positive impact across the Estates Team.  

Leader of the Year

Billy Hunter – Deputy Director (FM & Corporate)

Billy displayed a level of leadership across Soft FM services during the COVID Pandemic, which was pivotal in ensuring these key services were supported to meet the demand and challenges faced, often changing on an hourly basis.

Over the last 18 months, Billy has developed an approach for his team, which has seen positive improvements across the full service, whether recruiting staff to support the increased cleaning requirement, sourcing cleaning materials, ensuring updated guidance was implemented and perhaps most importantly ensuring staff on the front line felt supported by their management teams.

The overall approach and impact of Billy’s leadership has seen improved staff morale.

Innovation of the Year

Tom Fulton – Assistant Head of Estates (North), Glasgow Royal Infirmary (proactive approach in the development of the GRI Museum Project

Tom Fulton has always used both his 30+ years’ experience and knowledge of the site to ensure best value with local projects and is considered an active participator in the development of the site and future investment.

Tom has also assisted and been very proactive in the development of the Glasgow Royal Infirmary Museum project which will allow both staff and patients to access the history of the historical site for now and the future. 

Tom who will shortly retire, is an ambassador of Glasgow Royal Infirmary and has always put patient needs and environment at the core of everything he does.

Volunteer of the Year

Kerry Johnstone, Alan Shaw, Matt McWilliams and Joe Kimmet – Assistant Technical Officers, Cowlairs Decontamination Unit

During the early stages of the Pandemic, the workload within the Cowlairs Decontamination Unit significantly reduced. All staff were offered the opportunity to volunteer to be reassigned to support other services, principally at Hillington Laundry where there was significant pressure on provision of services.

These staff volunteered to be reassigned, taking on the challenge of working in a different area and a different service at Hillington laundry, and assisting with the increased demand. This had a significant impact on the service, proving much needed support in the provision on laundry for patients and also scrub suits for relevant departments.

Team of the Year

Payroll Team

Since the start of the pandemic most services have experienced additional demands and pressures while also coping with the sudden shift in March 2020 from business as usual to living and working safely in a Covid world while still providing business critical services.

During this time Payroll Services has been one of the hidden hero services for the Health Board. Workloads across the service increased significantly, Payroll teams have been required to process several thousand additional temporary and permanent staff arrangements, over 6,000 new starts in one month. In addition there have been multiple pay awards, new terms and conditions, new service areas requiring support like vaccination services and the complexity of the Covid Recognition Payments, all of which added to the Payroll Services burden.

Employee of the Year

Fiona Buchanan

Fiona has been instrumental in the costings for the Covid-19 costs around Test & Protect, Vaccinations and Public Health. This has involved a lot of extra work and Fiona has showed great dedication and commitment throughout the pandemic. She has been the key link with all the corporate departments and her assistances has been invaluable to the Finance Team and the Corporate areas she deals with.

She has also been a great support to all the senior management team as there has been transition between roles. Fiona takes a very balanced view on issues and always considers both sides of an argument.

Leader of the Year

Elaine Dyer

Elaine has been the Senior Management Accountant in the Regional team through some particularly challenging times.

There have been many difficulties within the team which Elaine dealt with this admirably switching tasks between team members and engaging with her Principal Finance Manager and Head of Finance.

During the lockdowns and covid period Elaine encouraged her staff to meet weekly on a Friday afternoon for some downtime to help and encourage wellbeing within her team. These times seem to have been thoroughly enjoyed by her team.

Innovation of the Year

Alan Hynd

Value management is a national improvement collaborative that aims to test and spread an innovative model that supports clinical, care and finance teams to apply quality improvement methods with combined quality and cost data at team level to deliver improved patient outcomes, experience and value.

The collaborative, led by Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s ihub, working in partnership with NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) launched in November 2019.

As part of the value management (VM) multidisciplinary team Alan spent a lot of time designing a process to quickly capture the required finance data for the VM box score.

Team of the Year

Occupational Health Nursing Team

The Occupational Health Nursing Team led a significant piece of work in supporting all our staffs’ health and wellbeing through the last 19 months. Not only have the team continued to provide support on a personal basis to individuals and managing attendance they have also and were heavily involved in the early days supporting the Vaccination Programme and Fit Testing and providing advice and support to the staff for risk assessments. They continue to provide ongoing support to our staff with Long-Covid.

Employee of the Year

Allan Hughes

Allan has shown leadership and commitment in coordinating and supporting the Fit Test Programme for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC). He has gained significant knowledge in the field and has provided advice and support through not only the Health and Safety Team but to Managers and Services throughout the Board.

Leader of the Year

Nareen Owens

Nareen as our Depute Director of Human Resources & Organisational Development has not only supported our overarching one team approach but has shown true leadership in supporting all of our teams to deliver our current services but also a range of new services to support COVID over the past year.

Innovation of the Year

Test and Protect

Steven Munce, Neil McGhie and Morag Kinnear along with others in recruitment and other teams helped set up the Test and Protect Team from scratch. Not only recruiting everyone but ensuring all the rosters and the systems were in place to support Public Health.

Volunteer of the Year

R&R Hubs

The Organisational Development Team initially helped to set up the R&R Hubs across all the main sites which included everything from organising the teas and coffees, organising furniture to ensuring that all the relevant staff support was put in place and they continue to support the Programme overall.

Team of the Year

Care and Support at Home

Inverclyde HSCP Care and Support at Home service provides personal care and housing support to adults living at home, with the majority of service users being older people. The service works over seven days and includes Community Alarm and Technology Enabled Care which operates on a 24 hour basis.

Care and Support at Home staff continued to provide essential service to all service users from the start of the pandemic and at a time when there was little known about the situation or how long it would continue. Every member of staff knows how essential the service is for people at home and accepted the need to continue as normal in the face of this crisis.

Employee of the Year

Susan Lindsay – Nurse Team Lead, Primary Care Mental Health Team

When the Covid-19 pandemic arrived, Community Mental Health Services (CMHS) had to reconfigure to a critical Mental Health Hub. The purpose of this was to ensure reactive capacity for community urgency and prioritised scheduled service delivery in an accessible and sustainable way for more than two thousand service users.

Susan was pivotal in identifying and outlining the essential service areas at the initial outset of the pandemic. This led into the necessary conversations and planning with other CMHS team leads to establish the strategy, operationalise and ensure sustainability of the priority elements.

Leader of the Year

Kate Christmas – Service Manager, Childrens Services

Kate began her career in social work in February 2008. Her capacity to form strong and lasting relationships was a hallmark of her as a person and a professional. She has always appeared calm and serene and had been able to instil this in colleagues earning immediate respect of all who worked with her. In response to unprecedented recruitment challenges in Inverclyde over the past 18 months and in recognition of the increasing challenges for our new social workers, Kate established a local academy. This has helped to equip our newly qualified staff to the best possible standard as they embark on their career.

During the pandemic she displayed all of the qualities and attributes that are required by a strong and compassionate leader. Properly supported and nurtured staff in Inverclyde were able to maintain a high level of contact with service users throughout the pandemic. Sadly, our friend and colleague Kate Christmas passed away on the 14th of July this year after a very brief illness.

Innovation of the Year

Community Diabetes Team

Since the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020 the team reviewed their practices and ways of working, moving to more streamlined and digital processes. As part of this process they have taken forward and successfully piloted for Inverclyde HSCP, video consultation calls via the NHS Near Me / Attend Anywhere web-based platform. Their Attend Anywhere model focuses on people and processes, not just technology.

People have been seen more promptly and waiting times minimised. They have been more effective in reaching vulnerable people for example those with mental health issues and mobility issues and for people with a history of non-engagement with services. 

Team of the Year (joint winners)

Pharmacy Critical Care Team

At the height of the pandemic the number of critical care beds increased 4 fold. Working collaboratively across sites the critical care team rapidly upskilled and trained pharmacy nursing and medical staff, highlighted and monitored medicines shortages and risks, reviewed their clinical service provision over 7 days providing leadership and expertise locally and nationally. The core team was supplemented by staff from a number of other areas who volunteered to be redeployed to support critical care either in direct patient care or in supporting roles.

The Vaccine Delivery Team

Vaccine delivery required a new way of working that crossed different teams and settings to provide pharmaceutical expertise, product stock management and delivery of vaccine to staff, care homes and community vaccination clinics. This was a true multi-disciplinary approach from pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, pharmacy support workers and administrative staff from across all areas of our service including, Pharmacy Public Health, Pharmacy Distribution Centre, Regional Quality Assurance and prescribing support

Employee of the Year

Denise Ferguson – Pharmacy Technician, West Dunbartonshire HSCP Prescribing Team

Denise is a Care at Home Pharmacy Technician who always shows care and compassion when dealing with patients, she goes above and beyond to help patients at all times. She is an integral part of the team. She liaised closely with the GP practices to ensure communication was maintained. She spent time supporting other team members, promoting their mental wellbeing and ensuring support available when people were struggling with workload. Denise is also the HSCP’s cold chain champion and had an essential role in the opening and running of 3 COVID vaccination clinics whilst maintaining her substantive post’s workload.

Leader of the Year

Dr Samantha Carmichael – Lead Pharmacist Clinical Trials/Research & Innovation

Sam is an inspirational leader of the Research & Innovation Clinical Trials Pharmacy Service. Her leadership skills have been outstanding over the last 18 months in dealing and responding to the impact of COVID-19. Sam has led the team setting up COVID-19 clinical trials in response to every stage of the pandemic; from community-based projects to researching suitable treatments for acutely ill patients in ITU to establishing crucial vaccine clinical trials. These studies were set up at a faster pace than ever seen before, which may not have been possible without the leadership, hard work, extra hours, expertise, experience and absolute determination.

Innovation of the Year

Patient Medication Visualisation Project from Central Prescribing Team

A prototype visualisation of medication history for patients attend epilepsy and difficult asthma clinics. It allows clinicians in a hospital setting to see the medication that patients have been supplied with in the community as an objective measure of adherence based on national prescription data. Generally, patient self-reported adherence to medicine is inaccurate and healthcare professionals tend to overestimate patient’s adherence. Improving adherence contributes to better health outcomes, reduces health system costs and improves the lives of people with chronic diseases. The project also provides educational resources and advice on how to use motivational interviewing to facilitate effective communication about medication adherence.

Volunteer of the Year

With grateful thanks to every member of staff who volunteered to work additional hours, to work flexibly, to work at home, to work at a different base or to work in a different role

Pharmacy Services do not use volunteers, however the Director of Pharmacy and Pharmacy Services Partnership Forum wished to recognise the contribution of all staff during the pandemic. The goodwill and exemplary professional behaviour exhibited by all staff ensured care for patients was not interrupted and that staff supported each other during these very difficult months.

Team of the Year

Health Protection Nurses – Hilda Crookshanks, Kate Murphy, Kary O’Brien, Charmaine Pearson, Juliana Pereira, Caroline Scade, Jacqui Shookhye-Dickson and Joan Wilson

The HP Nurses have played a pivotal role working across health protection and the test and protect service throughout the pandemic. They have worked tirelessly providing expert advice to care homes, NHS colleagues, HSCPs and the public, to name but a few on all aspects of Covid – from managing clusters and outbreaks to contact tracing, vaccination and everything in between.

Employee of the Year

Janet Campbell – Bank Registered Nurse

Janet Campbell manages the NHS staff Covid testing service which has been running since the start of the pandemic. Her hard work, commitment and flexibility means that this testing service, based in the West ACH is available seven days a week.

Leader of the Year

Cath McFarlane – General Manager, Test and Protect

Employed 19 team leaders and two service managers, the majority of whom are from the private sector and helped create a vision and a goal of the Test and Protect service within GGC. In a short period of time created a service consisting of approximately 200 staff with a family feel – all of whom are on fixed term contracts and had them working to every NHS value. Has shown an open door policy and has been there for each tracer, team lead and service manager when they are at their lowest, even picking up the phone to contact trace herself.

Innovation of the Year

Test and Protect Staff Forum. Developed by Bryan Forbes, Yvonne McDowall, Wallace Gray, Adam Shearer, Martin Mcerlean, Jason McGinlay and Cath McFarlane

The weekly staff forum was created to provide stronger communication between contact tracing staff and the leadership team. It provides a ‘one stop shop’ to improve communication across the Test and Protect service as key information was scattered across separate team channels and chats and difficult to find. Missing these important pieces of information, e.g. changes in policies and procedures, could negatively impact on the outcome of a call to a patient. The forum empowers contact tracers to bring their ideas and vision to improve the service.

Volunteer of the Year

Staff who worked in the R&R Hubs – Jackie Sands, Jane E Grant, Lesley McBrien, Debbie Nelson, Barry Hope, Lisa Buck, Margaret Comrie, Mhairi Shepherd, Liz Donaghy, Fiona Mclean, Louise Logue, Agnes Rowland, Heather Hopkins and Martin Patterson

The R&R hubs provided a safe & secure non clinical environment for staff to rest & recuperate during the height of the pandemic. This service was open 24/7 for the first 6-7 months. The public health staff provided a listening ear and were able to signpost staff to support services as required or requested. They also provided staff with the opportunity to engage in activities that supported good mental & physical health. Relationships with staff were built on trust, confidentiality, friendship & respect & this resource was very well received.

Team of the Year

Renal Transplant Team

During recent uncertain and stressful times, Renal Transplant nurses were meticulous in their care of patients who were isolated from their families in hospital. The Renal Transplant Team went on to perform one hundred transplants between March 2020 and the start of December 2020, including twenty–five living donor transplants, with no cases of nosocomial coronavirus infection despite the highest prevalence of COVID-19 infection in Scotland in both the Glasgow community and the QEUH. These achievements all took place in the context of huge pressure on the team as a result of sickness absences, including cases of COVID-19 amongst unit nurses, COVID-19 related absence due to self-isolation and childcare.

Employee of the Year

John Martin – Haemodialysis Support Worker, Inverclyde Royal Infirmary

During the initial outbreak of Covid-19 John consistently worked above and beyond the remit of his role within the Dialysis Unit at Inverclyde Royal Infirmary. Throughout the outbreak he not only performed his role to the highest standard, but consistently provided a reliable and supportive influence towards his colleagues at a complex and challenging time.

Over and above this John supported patients out with the unit, including those who were either Covid-19 positive or who were shielding without any family support. In practice, this comprised grocery shopping, collecting prescriptions, assisting with documentation and any other requirement patients had including helping to look after one patient’s beloved dog.  

Leader of the Year

Judith Roulston – Team Leader, Critical Care Outreach and High Acuity Service, Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic and to allow more patients to remain on-site at Gartnavel General Hospital in the absence of on-site critical care, Judith quickly set up and established the Beatson High Acuity Unit (HAU) and Critical Care Service as a safe and effective service for unwell Haematology and Oncology patients being treated at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre.

The outcome of Judith’s outstanding leadership and the actions of her team resulted in providing a higher level of patient care at an unprecedented time of concern.

Innovation of the Year

Plastics Trauma See and Treat Service

In order to reduce their risk of coming into contact with patients with Covid-19 and to ensure that patients remained outside the main hospital building at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, a joint Trauma Assessment Service was set up in collaboration with Orthopaedics using an outpatient facility in the Gatehouse building. A joint trauma assessment service had been considered for a long time, however it took the emergence of COVID-19 for the Plastics Trauma See and Treat Service to be set up and become operational in a matter of days. This was down to outstanding leadership, collaboration and first class team-based working.

Team of the Year

Care at Home

Health and Social care should enable people to live the lives they choose in the best way possible.

Care at Home has represented HSCP’s vision in the most extraordinary way over the past 18 months, operating tirelessly to support vulnerable people against the uncertainty of a pandemic.

This team wouldn’t class themselves as special if you were to ask, they would simply just tell you that they are doing the job they love. That’s what makes them special.

Employee of the Year

Patrick Christie – Facilities Support Worker

Patrick or ‘Pat’ as he is well known is a ‘one-man team’. He does his job without any qualms and complaints. I have never seen him saying no to anyone, even if there is something that is beyond his role he would happily agree to find a solution. He treats professionals, patients, carers, and members of the public with the same regard and respect.

Everyone who enters Renfrew Health & Social Work Centre knows ‘friendly Pat’. He is a star who needs to be acknowledged for altruistic efforts!

Leader of the Year

Madeline Wilson – District Nursing Team Leader

Madeline has led the District Nursing team through one of the most challenging and demanding times within nursing. Over the past 11 months, Madeline has been the only Team Lead for all of the district nurses within Renfrewshire and she has demonstrated tenacity and resilience in the face of adversity.

Madeline is dedicated to the district nursing service and passionate about ensuring that nurses are supported to deliver person centered care.

She is the epitome of resilience and has the ability to manage challenging situations with care and compassion.

Innovation of the Year

Learning Disabilities Digital Transformation Project

In a year that has been challenging for everyone, Renfrewshire Learning Disabilities Service (RLDS) worked hard to find alternative ways to connect with individuals and provide support for those who access the service.

Staff tackled the challenges to make sure that our supported people had the opportunity to try new activities and stay connected in a meaningful way.

Which in turn, supported their parents and carers to have valuable respite from their caring responsibilities during this unprecedented time.

Volunteer of the Year

Jim and Anne Devlin

Both Jim and Anne deliver food from the foodbanks throughout Renfrewshire to households. Jim also picks up medication from Pharmacies.

They truly are selfless, caring, non-judgemental individuals with a strong sense of community who give so much of their time and energy.

There have been many times when they have put their own lives on hold to help those in need and this should be rewarded in some way.

At a time when others were staying at home, they were out in the communities helping those in need despite a global pandemic!

Chief Officer’s Award

Care Home Multi-Disciplinary Team

This group of people responded instantly and continued to input into a crisis situation within one of the Renfrewshire care homes, which unfortunately suffered a significant COVID-19 outbreak affecting almost 80% of its staff and over 90% of their residents.

This was very much a crisis situation with the home requiring immediate and sustained support to ensure that the residents whom many were symptomatically unwell due to COVID continued to receive the best care.

All worked to provide direct patient care and to support our care home colleagues which without the support of this group of staff the residents would have been all at risk.

Team of the Year (joint winners)

Specialist Eating Disorders

Connect ED is the specialist eating disorders team in CAMHS. The team support, deliver and evaluate evidence based treatment for young people suffering from eating disorders in GGC.

Throughout the pandemic the team worked tirelessly to find ways to provide treatment for families using digital resources, adapting well to this new way of working. The team continued to deliver evidence based treatments and developed groups aimed to support the increased number of referrals. Altogether it has shown that CAMHS works well together and pulls on all the skills and expertise within the team.

Tier 4 Admin Staff West Glasgow

Tier 4 admin hub were put together a number of years ago when staff from different teams across Specialist Children’s Services came together to form the Tier 4 Hub.

Over the last year the team demonstrated commitment to their roles. Staff are all very caring towards each other and will often check up on each other even after work if it is felt someone needs it. It feels a very safe place to work as staff trust each other.  

This team plays a vital role in supporting all the teams at tier 4 and have done so throughout Covid-19 – they have pulled out all the stops to support everyone and have looked after each other.

Employee of the Year

Jacqui Ely

Jacqui Ely joined the team at Skye House two years ago as a Ward Clerk Since that time Jacqui has excelled in what she does in the ward with both staff and patients. Jacqui is very creative and has transformed the ward with pictures and staff boards and has made the ward a much more welcoming place for young people and their visitors. We have had very positive feedback from patients and their families about how welcoming Jacqui makes them feel when they come to the ward and ensures they have what they need and is a friendly and extremely helpful person for those who come to the ward in an often distressed and emotional state. 

Innovation of the Year

Acute Paediatric Psychology Team

Paediatric Psychology delivers psychological assessment and therapies to children, young people and families under the care of the RHC experiencing psychological/mental health difficulties as a result of their medical condition or treatment.

With the onset of COVID-19, the Paediatric Psychology team recognising the considerable psychological strain the COVID pandemic placed on staff across the whole hospital, the team gained support from SCS management to divert some of their time to staff support. Staff were supported to manage the stress and distress of their jobs and many fed back that the tea break talks had been invaluable in enabling them to continue delivering high quality care to their patients.

Team of the Year (joint winners)

West Dunbartonshire Residential Care Team for Older People

Care Homes faced immense pressure during the pandemic, always striving to strike the right balance of keeping people safe while supporting them to live fulfilling lives through person centred care. In response, the teams rapidly adapted their practices, working tirelessly to accommodate new guidelines and policies in a constantly evolving situation. Together they learned, shared and supported each other through a range of emotions – sadness, loss, anxiety and fear of the unknown – but at all times their primary focus was keeping safe the vulnerable residents in their care.

They embraced technology as a way to stimulate and promote the wellbeing of residents, creating a Facebook page, WhatsApp groups, composing newsletters and using Zoom to ensure regular contact with families.

West Dunbartonshire Care at Home Team (including Home Care, Sheltered Housing & Community Alarms)

Care at Home services are integral to the HSCP’s commitment to support people to live well independently in their communities for as long as possible. So when the COVID-19 pandemic took hold the Team’s biggest concern was the equally virulent spread of another scourge for their shielding clients – loneliness.

Cut off from trusted carers and neighbours, their isolation inevitably took its toll on their mental health. But thankfully, they would soon find that they are not alone.

The response from the Home Care, Sheltered Housing and Community Alarm teams was a collaborative approach, working with partner agencies and family members to ensure that services could be targeted to those most in need.

Employee of the Year

Denise Ferguson – Primary Care Pharmacy Technician

Resilience and resourcefulness, care and compassion. Such qualities were needed more than ever during this turbulent Covid era and Denise Ferguson displayed them all with unstinting commitment to supporting her patients and colleagues alike.

Her quick response in the early stages of lockdown ensured that local teams had the resources required to work remotely and maintain strong communication links with GP Practices.

In addition to her role as a Care at Home Pharmacy Technician, Denise played an integral part in setting up and running three Covid vaccination clinics in West Dunbartonshire, ensuring that the “cold chain” protocols for the vaccines were maintained.

Leader of the Year

Heather Caughey – MSK Physiotherapy Team Leader

It’s during tough times when great leaders are defined and Heather Caughey undoubtedly rose to the challenges posed to her MSK Physiotherapy service during the pandemic.

Accepting overall responsibility for establishing a functioning face-to-face MSK service at the Louisa Jordan Hospital, she identified, co-ordinated and monitored all of the practical arrangements. This included selecting and moving staff, equipment, clinical notes and students to the newly set up facility.

She also co-ordinated the de-commissioning of the service in a very short time frame when the Hospital closed.

Without exception, those redeployed to work under her leadership in the Louisa Jordan found it a rewarding and enjoyable experience.

Innovation of the Year

Digital Developments within MSK Physiotherapy

For a service that epitomises hands-on care, the sudden onset of social distancing restrictions posed huge challenges for the MSK Physiotherapy Team.

A positive “can do” attitude and willingness to learn new skills was at the heart of the team’s swift and innovative response, embracing technology to create new opportunities to deliver modern quality care.

Digital capabilities were developed, not only for patient consultations but also a wide range of activities including the creation of a Covid Clinical Pathway to share knowledge and wellbeing resources.

These “best practice” elements now feature as part of a comprehensive digital strategy employed across the wider NHS community.

Team of the Year (joint winners)

RAH CMU Team

Throughout the past 18 months the Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH) Community Midwifery Unit have worked exceptionally hard to provide excellent care to mums, babies and new families during the pandemic. Adapting to closures of their department and supporting other departments not only within the RAH maternity unit but the other maternity sites across NHSGGC as well. The team acted and adapted quickly to working in unfamiliar areas, to new pathways and processes and making full use of new technology via video/telephone appointments which allow them to keep in contact with their patients and families.

Acute Paediatric Physiotherapy Service

The Acute Paediatric Physiotherapy service within the Royal Hospital for Children (RHC) responded with initiative, efficiency and professionalism as the Covid-19 pandemic unfolded. They quickly shifted working practice for outpatient services to virtual and telephone using near-me, supported MDT clinics using near-me, liaised with and supported adult colleagues, set up training for all Paediatric staff on proning, manual handling and adult respiratory skills, and ran practical sessions on donning and doffing PPE to other AHP colleagues within RHC.

The team also prepared and delivered online training for colleagues across Scotland and the RHC has been recognised as one of the leading sites in virtual student placements and the benefits of peer supported learning throughout the Physiotherapy profession.

Employee of the Year

Debbie Harrison – Senior Staff Nurse in Paediatric Haematology

Debbie Harrison is in the team looking after children with malignant haematological and oncological diseases and children undergoing the Stem cell transplant process.

As a caring and compassionate nurse who works hard to ensure that children with leukaemia receive the best care possible, Debbie has maintained a positive outlook and supported and encouraged others despite the department going through touch changes and challenges over the last 4-5 years. Debbie has faced challenges from the children’s hospital to the adult hospital, staffing shortages and the added burden of caring for very immune compromised patients through the pandemic with a smile and always has an encouraging word for others.

Claire Rowan – Practice Development Midwife

Claire Rowan is a Practice Development Midwife who created and rolled out an induction programme for Newly Qualified Midwifes (NQMs) that was adapted specifically for COVID restrictions, and managed to deliver the whole programme despite COVID and all of the restrictions and pressures that came along with it. Moving the programme from what was initially face-to-face education in the QEUH Teaching and Learning Centre, to a hybrid of small learning groups and flexible e-learning in 2020 and 2021.

Instead of attending 75 hours of lectures, NQMs now attend 24 hours of interactive education, and complete a comprehensive e-learning list.

Leader of the Year

Jennifer Johansson – Charge Midwife Princess Royal Maternity Unit

Through the COVID pandemic Jennifer Johansson took notice that midwives were experiencing change at a significant pace and facing incredible challenges both within and outwith their working environment, and decided to do something about it. Jennifer commenced a project in October 2020 to enable the senior labour ward staff to facilitate time for staff to concentrate on their wellbeing and wellness at work. The aim was that a minimum of 50% of midwives on shift would receive a 10 minute wellness break in a designated wellness room in the labour ward. The outcome was achieved with well over 50% of staff benefiting from a wellness break and excellent feedback from staff using the facility.

Innovation of the Year

QEUH Ward 48 Antenatal Ward

A new patient centred ‘Outpatient Induction of Labour’ service was introduced during the pandemic, with the aim to reduce hospital admissions, reduce the caesarean section and assisted birth rate and provide women with an innovative safe method of inducing labour and then safely go home to be with their families and return the next day.

This was a very challenging service to set up initially but with head-strong determination and unbelievable team work and motivation the QEUH Ward 48 team are now seeing the results. The process has had a 96% success rate and women are able to transfer to labour wards to have their waters broken without the requirement for an inpatient stay, without requiring drugs and with minimal discomfort.

Volunteer of the Year

Michelle McMillan – Medical Secretary, Renal Department

Michelle was approached at the beginning of the Pandemic with a request to set up a robust admin system to book in Covid vaccine appointments for Medical, Nursing and Clinical Staff members in the Women’s and Children’s (W&Cs) Directorate. Michelle embraced this request, learning the new technology and setting up a Microsoft TEAMs page with an excel file recording all staff bookings. She worked from home outwith her normal working hours, at weekends and late into the evenings to book in staff to the appointments as they became available as well as phoning staff members advising them of their appointments whilst answering any queries they had. 

Rights of the Child Award

Morag Wilson and the RHC App Development Team

Paediatric Consultant Dr Morag Wilson along with Coral Brady, Seona Hamilton, Melville Dixon, Graham Bell and Geetika Kumar at the Royal Hospital for Children have worked to develop an app for parents and carers that provides a wealth of information for children’s health.

The app and accompanying webpage not only give advice about how to access care for different situations, but also what to expect when visiting the Royal Hospital for Children (RHC) and information on common childhood issues such as earache, fevers and temperatures and coughs and colds.

The app was developed with parents, carers and children in mind, understanding that it can be very stressful when a child is unwell.

Directors Award

Conor Doherty – Consultant in Paediatric Infectious Diseases

Conor Doherty has been awarded the ‘Directors Award’ in the Women and Children’s Directorate in recognition of his exemplary performance and behaviours, playing a pivotal part in meeting our goals, driving our positive culture and moving the Directorate forward safely through Covid.

Throughout the pandemic Conor has played the lead role in ensuring that the Royal Hospital for Children (RHC) is in a strong position to deal with the pandemic whilst maintaining a safe clinical environment for the children, families and staff. Conor has taken on a key leadership role, keeping the whole clinical team informed of the most recent developments in epidemiology and national standards such as with PPE and infection control measures throughout.

The team, department, service or function that has been judged to have worked together as a team and made the most significant contribution to quality of care, population health and care, service delivery or staff wellbeing likely under significant pressure or difficult circumstances.

Any member of staff who has stood out as an exemplar of care giving, service delivery or who has made a major difference for colleagues around them or the delivery of a key objective for their department or wider NHSGGC/HSCP.

Any member of staff who has demonstrated outstanding leadership, positive values and behaviours and/or inspired others in a particularly challenging situation, or for the respect they get from others through the day to day difference they make for those around them as a leader.

Any member of staff can demonstrate leadership, not just those who formally manage people.

To recognise any individual, team or department responsible for developing and implementing an innovative service, method, technology or process that has made a significant difference to quality of care, wider population health or care, service delivery or to the wellbeing of our own staff or to the efficient use our resources.

To recognise an individual or team of individuals who have volunteered significant time and effort to the benefit of our patients, service users or staff and made selfless contribution perhaps under difficult personal circumstances.