Nurses and midwives honoured for ‘going above and beyond’ for patients at Guy’s and St Thomas’

Nurses and midwives have been honoured for ‘going above and beyond’ for patients at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals.

The Trust’s annual Nursing and Midwifery Awards, now in its fifth year, took place virtually and honoured 15 individuals and a team.

The award ceremony included messages of support from Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer for England, and Jane Clegg, Joint Regional Chief Nurse for London.

The Team of the Year award went to the Covid-19 vaccination team, who helped with the design and day-to-day running of the vaccination centres.

Since the vaccination centres opened in December 2020, the team has helped to deliver more than 500,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine.

Other winners included Fenella Jolly, from the health inclusion team, who won Community Nurse of the Year for her help delivering services for homeless people, refugees, asylum seekers and people with addictions.

Dan Wicks, who works in cardiovascular services, was named Matron of the Year.

Mr Wicks volunteered to be redeployed to critical care during the second wave of the pandemic, and organised well-being sessions for his team.

Dani Adams, a clinical nurse specialist in Evelina London’s rheumatology team, received the Specialist Nurse of the Year award for her work supporting complex paediatric patients with inflammatory disorders.

Ms Adams is seen as a role model for her young patients and some of them have said they want to be a nurse like her when they are older.

Anna Krawczyk, who works in Royal Brompton’s Squire Centre, won the Nursing assistant/support worker of the year award for her help setting up the day case unit when the Squire Centre launched in 2018.

She has inspired others to take up a career in healthcare, having started as a cleaner before training to become a healthcare assistant.

Ms Krawczyk now heads up a healthcare assistant team, leading on all aspects of care provided at the centre, a skillset which she continues to hone through ongoing leadership training.

Claire Kennard, who leads the antenatal and newborn screening team, was named Midwife of the Year.

She was recognised for developing the service and supporting staff when new systems and pathways were implemented.

Avey Bhatia, Chief Nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “I am extremely proud of our outstanding nurses and midwives who have risen to the challenges we have faced over the last 18 months.

“They have delivered compassionate care to thousands of patients and their families so it’s really important to us that we recognise and celebrate their fantastic achievements.”

Pictured from left: Claire Kennard, midwife of the year; Anna Krawczyk, nursing assistant; Dani Adams, Specialist nurse of the year.

The full list of winners are:

· Student nurse/midwife/nursing associate trainee of the year: Jessafer Fernandez
· Nursing assistant/support worker of the year: Anna Krawczyk
· Staff nurse of the year: Christine Mayiati
· Dental nurse of the year: Catherine Dumlao
· Midwife of the year: Claire Kennard
· Sister or charge nurse of the year: Debbie Pocock
· Cancer nurse of the year: Liz Frankson
· Specialist nurse of the year: Dani Adams
· Children’s nurse of the year: Lauren McCann
· Matron of the year: Dan Wicks
· Community nurse of the year: Fenella Jolly
· Senior leadership award: Debbie Mundle
· Rising star of the year: Hassan Koroma
· Team of the year: COVID-19 vaccination team
· The Nightingale Fellowship Award: Georgina Crew
· Chief Nurse Award: Samantha Salaver