Nottinghamshire Healthcare celebrated the achievements of its staff and volunteers at the Trust’s very own OSCARS award ceremony last night.
The ‘Outstanding Service Contribution and Recognition Scheme’ is held annually to acknowledge and celebrate the outstanding work of staff and volunteers to provide high quality mental health and learning disability services.
Winners were announced at a special awards ceremony held at The East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham. The headline sponsor for the event, which is in its eighth year, was Barchester Healthcare, Castlebeck and Grove, one of the Trust’s private sector partners.
Amongst those individuals and teams to receive accolades on the night was the Human Library Project Team who worked to develop and deliver Human Libraries throughout the City and County, from St Anns in Nottingham to Worksop. Human Libraries offer people as ‘living books’ for loan to others who wish to learn about aspects of mental health from people with lived experience. The team won The Liam O’Neill Fighting Stigma Award in recognition of this innovative and effective way of breaking down barriers and stigma.
Winner of The Lifetime Achievement Award, Jim Walker is a dedicated and valued colleague with a detailed knowledge of the Trust. Whilst he has a long and successful career history as a clinician, he has continued to ensure that patient care is his principal focus as a manager.
The Unsung Hero Award within a Non-Clinical setting was awarded to Malcolm Cooper, a carer and Involvement Volunteer who campaigned to improve services for people under 65 with dementia while caring for his wife. His dedication and commitment in tracking down managers and holding them to account is legendary. Without him the working age dementia service would not be in existence and many people would not be receiving a service at all. Malc worked with the Trust in service development to improve the quality of the services it provides. Sadly Malcolm passed away after a short illness in October last year.
The OSCARS comprised eight award categories. Almost 100 nominations were received, made by staff, service users and carers, with 32 individuals and teams shortlisted.
Professor Mike Cooke CBE, Chief Executive of Nottinghamshire Healthcare said: “The OSCARS is an important event to recognise and celebrate the outstanding performance of our staff and volunteers, which is at the heart of delivering high quality services. The hard work and dedication of everyone nominated is highly valued by the Trust and is making a real difference to the people who use our services.”
Winners were as follows:
The Unsung Hero Award – Non Clinical Setting
Malcolm Cooper, Carer and Involvement Volunteer, (Posthumous Nomination)
The Unsung Hero Award – Clinical Setting
Sangita Dhawan,Community Volunteer Coordinator,Social Inclusion and Wellbeing Service, Foster Drive, Nottingham
The Leadership Award
Louise Bussell, Modern Matron, Women’s and Personality Disorder Men’s Directorate, Rampton Hospital, Retford
The Equality and Diversity Award
Dr Pat Williams, CHP Transition Project Manager, Duncan Macmillan House, Nottingham
The Innovator of the Year Award
Perdita Jackson, Education Coordinator, The Peaks Unit, Rampton Hospital, Retford
The Team of the Year Award
Foundation Trust Programme Board, Duncan Macmillan House, Nottingham
The Liam O’Neill Fighting Stigma Award
The Human Library Project team, Duncan Macmillan House, Nottingham and New Ollerton, Newark
The Lifetime Achievement Award
Jim Walker, Associate Director of Performance and Partnerships – Local Services, Duncan Macmillan House, Nottingham
