NHS heroes take centre stage at annual staff awards

Tameside & Glossop NHS Charity Brass Band

The Tameside & Glossop NHS Charity Brass Band are something really special. They give up their own time to rehearse and perform all year round, bringing people together in a way that only music can. They’re brilliant ambassadors for the Trust and a great example of how volunteering can make a real difference.

Intermediate Tier Services Development team

The ITS Development team work tirelessly to ensure that staff in the ITS division have access to the training and education they need to carry out their roles with confidence and competence, such as getting all preceptor staff up to date with their training. Colleagues have also commented on how supportive and welcoming the team are of new starters, providing regular check-ins to ensure their learning needs are being met.

Estates team

Led by Ian Hinitt, the Estates team successfully applied for £14.41 million in public sector decarbonisation funding. The Trust’s decarbonisation project is expected to reduce carbon emissions by a fifth each year, and will significantly reduce backlog maintenance costs. The Estates team’s ability to see long-term gains this will have has driven their passion to make the project a reality. 

Highly commended:

Laura Swann

Laura has been in post just over a year and has already made a significant impact on the sustainability at the Trust. She has helped secure funding for a number of green initiatives, including leading on a tree-planting project in partnership with City of Trees and securing sponsorship for new asthma pump recycling bins.

Christina Rapuano

Christina was nominated for her work supporting all the volunteers across the hospital. Many volunteers have credited Christina with giving them the confidence to step into new environments, make meaningful contributions, and feel valued as part of our Trust and the wider NHS.

School nursing team

Recognising a rise in mental health-related ED attendances, the School Nursing team developed a programme to support the mental health needs of pupils at Fairfield School. This involved extensive engagement with key partner agencies, including Children’s Services and mental health colleagues. The proposal was strongly endorsed from all involved agencies, who praised its collaborative model and potential to make a meaningful difference in the lives of young people.

Rainbow Clinic

The Rainbow Clinic specifically addresses the emotional and psychological needs of families affected by pregnancy loss, which are often overlooked in traditional care pathways. Initial findings suggest that the clinic has reduced triage attendances, inpatient admissions, and patient anxiety. Since the launch, there have been no NICU admissions, and all deliveries have occurred between 37-38 weeks in line with current guidance.

Janet Williams

As a housekeeper in the Acute Cardiology Unit (ACU), Janet has received excellent feedback and many personal thank you cards for consistently going the extra mile for patients and their families. A key example of this is that, after recognising that patients often faced long waits to use the ACU’s one shower, Janet used her drive and determination to push for a second shower to be installed.

Unfortunately, Janet was unable to attend the awards evening, so in her place her ACU colleagues collected the award on Janet’s behalf.

Mel Dadkhah-Taeidy and Nicola Hopkins

There was some very tough competition in this award category this year and the judges had a very difficult time choosing between two particularly strong nominations.

Mel is widely recognised by colleagues and patients alike for her compassion during incredibly tough moments. Her leadership and innovation have also had a direct impact on improving patient outcomes and staff experience: Mel played a key role in implementing the Trust’s hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) cancer triage system, enabled the rollout of the best time pathway, and serves as the genomics lead for HPB.

Nicola is described by colleagues as an essential member of the Acute Oncology team, known for her tireless work ethic and commitment to treating everyone with dignity and respect. She is praised for her understanding of each patient’s individual needs and ability to quickly respond to complex symptoms, ensuring patients receive interventions in a timely manner.

Fatima Salik

As part of a wider initiative to support people living with chronic pain, Fatima developed and now leads a monthly wellbeing session promoting self-management and peer-support. The project has already helped support successful weaning off high-dose opioids, improved patient confidence and helped build a stronger, more connected support community.

Medical Records

Behind every outpatient appointment, the Medical Records team is working tirelessly in the background to ensure clinicians can focus on patient care. The team’s duties stretch across the whole Trust, playing a crucial role in the safeguarding of both patient care and confidentiality. They are recognised for their diligence, professionalism, adaptability and open mindedness.

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The Health Visiting team

The Health Visiting team have continued to deliver outstanding care to our community in the face of increasing demand and complexity. They have embraced a proactive, preventative approach and seen a significant improvement in key performance indicators for the Healthy Child programme. The team were also commended for their early years partnership offer in the recent SEND inspection. 

Highly commeded

Cancer Nurse Specialist team

From leading service transformation of multiple cancer pathways, to maintaining continuity of care during staff shortages, the Cancer Nurse Specialist team demonstrate exceptional collaboration, mutual support, and a shared commitment to delivering safe, high-quality, patient-centred cancer care.