NHS heroes revealed at NHS staff award ceremony

A pharmacist in charge of the world’s most precious vaccine, a facilities team which kept hospitals and buildings clean and safe, and a young woman who held the hand of the dying.

These are just some of the individuals, teams and services which were recognised for their outstanding contribution at Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust’s (KCHFT) Staff Awards last Friday (29 October).

The ceremony at the Kent Event Centre, Detling showcased the remarkable work of the trust, which was responsible for setting up and running five large-scale vaccination centres, treating more than 600 Covid-positive patients and supporting families across Kent and Medway during one of the most difficult times we have ever experienced.

KCHFT Chair John Goulston said: “Emotional, inspiring and uplifting, I struggle to find the words to say how proud I am. Everyone at KCHFT has gone above and beyond these past 18 months, like never before, and it was right we took time to stop, reflect and recognise their contributions.”

Earlier this year, a judging panel read through more than 200 nominations, each was a story of how caring, aspirational, responsive and excellent – KCFHT’s values – the teams and services are.

And the winners are…

Panel’s choice award: Eilidh Kessack

For her exceptional work during the pandemic, apprentice healthcare assistant, Eilidh Kessack from Whitstable and Tankerton Hospital, was selected by the judging panel as this year’s Panel’s Choice winner out of all entries in the staff awards.

Eilidh’s nomination describes her as an exceptional young person with a bright future in healthcare ahead of her.

Eilidh joined KCHFT during COVID-19 and stepped into a face-paced environment to provide comfort and care to patients and their families. She spent last moments with patients, so they would not be alone. She relayed dying messages between patients and families. She provided comfort to families, letting them know their loved ones had not died alone. Eilidh is a credit to her profession and will go far in the nursing career she plans to pursue, following in the footsteps of other family members.

For someone so young, to take on such a role and to do it so exceptionally, makes Eilidh truly aspirational. She is definitely someone that colleagues and indeed friends, can look up to. She is dedicated, kind, compassionate and professional in all she does; a real credit to KCHFT.

Rising star award: Juliette Wales and Beverley Hunt, public health communications

Encouraging positive behaviour changes and small lifestyle changes to help live healthier lives and putting patients at the heart of everything we do is core to the work of the Public Health Team.

Beverley Hunt, Campaigns Manager for Public Health and Juliette Wales, project manager for public health were described as showing great compassion, putting themselves in the shoes of clients to understand what they need most from public health in their work.

They are true rising stars, working together as a team, striving to be the best and have taking opportunities to further their learning and skills.

Health and wellbeing award: Thom Fentem

Thom Fentem, Project Officer, is relentless in his pursuit of inclusion and driving up standards. He holds multiple roles that support a holistic approach to health and wellbeing, including Chair of the LGBTQ+ staff network and a time to change mental health champion.

He takes time to understand each colleague he works with, making sure they are happy, healthy and feel safe to be themselves at work. Inclusion is in his nature. He was nominated for his outstanding contribution to the health and wellbeing of colleagues and his relentless focus on improving wellbeing by helping introduce different opportunities for support.

Quality improvement award: Community Nursing and Podiatry Teams inter-service huddles

The teams have received the award because of their innovative ways of working or the benefit of patients.

Joining up their work by introducing inter-team huddles improved collaboration and promoted seamless ways of working together to improve patient care during COVID-19. This project allowed protected time to develop team relationships and improve understanding of each other’s services, proactively managing shared care. This included a process of two-way peer support and guidance, involving an expert view and ability to change interventions or treatments in a timely manner resulting in better patient care and the best use of resources during the pandemic.

This project started in Canterbury and the learning was shared and extended across the teams in east Kent.

Employee of the year: Ruth Brown

Covid-19 has been a dominant force throughout the last 18 months. Our services, teams and colleagues have been working hard throughout the pandemic, helping make sure our patients, stakeholders and service-users are prioritised and looked after as best possible.

For our employee of the year, this time has been a whirlwind. Ruth has worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic as chief pharmacist and more recently, playing an important role in delivering the Covid vaccination programme.

She was up at the crack of dawn through the winter, taking delivery of the vaccine and shouldered enormous responsibility and countless hours, but always with a smile on her face and a positive mental attitude.

Described as always giving 110 per cent, Ruth was nominated for being professional, caring, compassionate and a pleasure to work with.

Leader of the year: Kathie Inett

Nominated by her Rehabilitation Team colleagues, Kathie Inett, Clinical Lead Occupational Therapist in the Deal and Dover area was described as a person who always encourages her colleagues to be their best and goes beyond being a manager.

She can always be relied upon to be a positive voice and finds the silver lining in any cloud, nurturing a culture of support.

Leadership team of the year: Ruth Brown and Clive Tracey

Operationally, setting up five large-scale vaccination centres across the county was always going to be a challenge. Thanks to the leadership and team work of Community Services Director, Clive Tracey and Chief Pharmacist, Ruth Brown, the task was completed seamlessly.

Establishing five centres at short notice across Kent and Medway, making decisions, encouraging colleagues and smiling throughout the process. During the course of nine-months, Clive and Ruth were the brains and inspiration of the vaccination programme. Thanks to their dedication, working seven days a week, KCHFT was able to play its part helping vaccinate more than two-and-a-half million people across Kent and Medway.

Their above and beyond commitment made sure the programme was a success with the vaccination programme supporting our communities to get back to a life living with Covid.

Support service team of the year: KCHFT’s facilities teams

Throughout the pandemic, every team has had to step up, go above and beyond and work in circumstances never experienced by anyone before. This challenge was accepted head on by the winners of this award.

More than just a team who clean our hospitals and clinical sites, facilities colleagues are described as the backbone of the NHS. They have continued to support our colleagues and our patients, along with each other, despite facing challenging circumstances, changing guidance and their own worries about Covid-19.

Our teams and services would not have been able to do their work looking after our patients without the support of the Facilities Teams.

Patient care team of the year: East Kent Specialist Respiratory Team

Throughout the last 12 months, all of our patient teams have been working above and beyond. However, this year’s winners have been at the forefront of some of the highest Covid-19 infection rates in the country and have still been able to prioritise their patients every need. The resilience and dedication of the east Kent Specialist Respiratory Team have continued to support some of the most vulnerable patients throughout the pandemic.

During the first wave, the clinicians adapted quickly to help support their vulnerable patients, as best possible continuing home visits when necessary and changing to virtual appointments when possible. has been nothing short of exceptional

Despite the challenges Covid-19 could bring, the team were motivated and hardworking, prioritising their patients’ health.