Achievement awards 2005
This year’s Whittington achievement awards were held as part of the annual public meeting on the evening of 21 September in the undergraduate centre.
Whittington Chair, Narendra Makanji said “The great thing about the Whittington achievement awards is that they provide an opportunity for staff to show their appreciation for their colleagues, so being nominated is in itself an enormous achievement and one of which they should all be extremely proud.”
The overall winner of the individual award was diabetes specialist nurse midwife Julie Logue, who was nominated for her dedication to services to patients. In her nomination, Julie was described as a ‘key individual in providing excellent care to women with gestational diabetes or those with pre-existing diabetes who become pregnant…one of the most sweet natured and hard-working individuals I have ever had the pleasure to work with.’ Julie is extremely generous with her time and support to the women she treats and she always has lots of thank-you cards and gifts from them.
The winner of the award for improving the quality of care or services to patients went to Wendy King, Macmillan Clinical Nurse Specialist in paediatric oncology. Wendy has worked at the Whittington for about a year but has already managed to find favour with her colleagues and has improved the quality of care to children with leukaemia and their families. She works closely with the community paediatric nurses, including doing home visits and going into schools if needed, organises and minutes team meetings and has been responsible for implementing many recommendations for the paediatric shared care unit. She is clearly well respected by her colleagues and has revolutionised the service given to patients who can call her directly if they need to.
Cecil Douglas, patient services manager for Facilities, was the proud winner of the second category for improving the efficiency of the Trust. Instrumental in the introduction of protected meal times for patients, Cecil has revised menus and menu systems, reduced ward food waste and, as a direct result of audits he put in place, is responsible for high levels of satisfaction among the patients on our wards. It was noted on the night that Cecil is not often to be seen bearing a smile so it was even better to see him wearing a huge grin when his award was announced!
Gretchen Siglar won the third category for dedication to services to patients. A senior palliative care social worker, Gretchen was described in her nomination as ‘truly amazing’. She is highly respected by all the nurses and doctors in her team in the oncology and palliative care department. Gretchen frequently works with young patients who can have complex family, social and financial problems and works alongside patients and families in preparing for death and dying. As a social worker, Gretchen provides a key link between social services and the hospital and always finds time to talk to the nurses she works with to offer them reassurance and guidance should they need it.