Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is calling on patients across Swindon to once again nominate staff who have gone that extra mile for this year’s Patients’ Choice Award at the annual Staff Excellence Awards.
Back for its eighth outing, the Trust’s Staff Excellence Awards is an opportunity to celebrate the outstanding achievements, hard work and dedication shown by staff caring for patients every single day of the year.
The only category on the night in which nominees are chosen entirely by the public, the Patients’ Choice Award is designed to shine a light on staff that have made a real and positive difference to the care of their patients.
Oonagh Fitzgerald, Director of Human Resources, said: “Our Staff Excellence Awards is now in its eighth year and it’s fantastic to once again not only say well done, but thank you to such an inspirational group of people.
“It’s so important for us to put time aside and celebrate our staff and make sure the incredible things they do every day don’t go unnoticed.
“I always look forward to the Patients’ Choice Award. It’s particularly special as it’s a chance for patients, as well as their relatives and friends, to shine a light on those people who have made a real difference to their lives.”
Any person who works for the Trust can be nominated for the Patients’ Choice Award, regardless of whether they work at the Great Western Hospital, or provide care for people in their own homes across Swindon.
Last year’s Patients’ Choice Award was won by Dr Sathish Kumar, Registrar and Clinical Fellow, who identified an extremely rare and often fatal condition called Boerhaave Syndrome in a patient who attended the Emergency Department at GWH on Christmas Day in 2015.
Dr Kumar’s quick thinking and ability to join the dots in a difficult situation led to the patient undergoing life-saving surgery early on Boxing Day morning at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford.
The nomination from the patient’s wife read: “His expert knowledge and fast action saved my husband’s life and I will be eternally grateful.”
Judges will select a shortlist from all of the nominations received from the public and those on the shortlist will be invited to the special ceremony in June where the winner will be formally announced.
To make a nomination, visit www.gwh.nhs.uk and complete the easy-to-use online form.
For a paper nomination form please call the Human Resources Team on 01793 605619.
The deadline for nominations is 5pm on Friday 3 March.
