Going the ‘extra mile’ for patients in Dorset

Dorset HealthCare recognised outstanding staff and volunteer achievements at its annual ‘Better Every Day’ awards event, held this year at AFC Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium.

Fellow staff, plus patients and carers, nominated 150 people or teams from local community hospitals, mental health services, community-based workers and support staff who have gone the extra mile to provide excellent services over the past 12 months.

These were whittled down to a final shortlist across eight categories, and the winners were:

• Excellence – Precious Whild, Sister/Charge Nurse at Guernsey Ward, Alderney Hospital, Poole. Precious is an outstanding leader who embraces new initiatives with enthusiasm. She has helped to significantly reduce the length of stay on the ward and improve the patient experience there.
• Compassion – Sharon McCarthy, Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy Assistant at The Children's Centre, Dorchester. Sharon provides a range of games and fun activities to help children with language and communication needs. She also gives support and advice to parents, making a real difference to young lives.
• Expertise – Brie Purse, Community Nursery Nurse at Littlemoor Health Centre, Weymouth. Brie’s experience as an adoptive parent helped her identify a gap in health visiting provision, and she has worked to ensure new adoptive mothers’ mental health is supported in a similar way to that of birth mothers.
• Bank Worker – Alan Pastora, Support Worker at St Ann's Hospital, Poole, and Linden Unit, Weymouth. Alan always goes above and beyond for the patients he cares for. He shows amazing compassion and understanding, is reliable and trustworthy, and demonstrates exceptional communication skills.
• Volunteer Award – Bereavement Cafe Team: Pat Chidgey, Annabel Wye, Jane Oborne, Carol Pomeroy at The Yeatman Hospital, Sherborne. They give up their own time every week to support people on their bereavement journey, offering care and compassion in a genuine, heartfelt manner.
• Apprentice of the Year – Mitch Barker, Business Administration Apprentice & EPRO Assistant at Sentinel House, Poole. Mitch is trusted to own and oversee extremely important emergency planning processes, which require a high degree of accuracy and professionalism. He has shown great commitment and maturity.
• Leadership and Management Award – Janice West, Named Nurse for Children Safeguarding at Forston Clinic, Charlton Down, and Caroline Telford, Interim Lead for Adult Safeguarding at Shelley Road, Boscombe. They have helped lead service innovation and improvements around domestic violence and child exploitation, forged strong links with other agencies and supported staff dealing with often complex, emotionally distressing cases.
• Team of the Year - Perinatal Mental Health Service Team at Alumhurst Road, Bournemouth. Staff work hard to ensure a loving relationship can develop between a mother and her infant, to help give them the best possible beginning – and future. They have gained national recognition for innovation and clinical excellence.

Two special awards recognising achievements in service improvement and integration were also awarded to Hannah White, Data and Performance Analyst at Sentinel House, Poole, and staff at Poole Locality Hub, based at Alderney Hospital.

Dorset HealthCare Chair Andy Willis said it was “humbling” to hear what the Trust’s staff and volunteers do on a daily basis to support the care of people across the county.

He added: “We’ve seen lots of innovation, improvement and good leadership in these nominations. It is fantastic to see our staff embracing change, and striving to constantly develop and improve services for local people.”