Bob Murray – Unsung Hero Awards

Nomination

Award Category:

Estates & Ancillary

Individual or Team Nomination?

Individual

Qualifying Qualities

In these challenging times, nominators were asked to show how the nominee had demonstrated the following qualities:

Exceptional work ethic - going above and beyond their job description, especially in the past 12 months.
Outstanding achievement/s in work or outside of the organisation where relevant.
Drive for innovation and proactive leadership in these challenging times.
High level of interpersonal skills, such as kindness, empathy, loyalty and thoughtfulness to staff and patients.
A resilience considering Covid to their role and to the health and wellbeing of their colleagues.

Nominators Answer

Nominee's story :

As Associate Director of Procurement, Bob Murray and his team usually try to work quietly in the background, but when the pandemic struck, they found themselves unexpectedly thrust into the centre of the Trust’s response with the challenges of managing its PPE provision. At the time Bob was completing a six-month secondment at NHSEI but swiftly returned to lead his team through those critical months during the fight against Covid-19. It is thanks to Bob’s enormous personal drive, stamina and leadership, along with the skills and dedication of his team, that the Trust managed to maintain its PPE stocks and get them into the critical areas when needed at what was the most challenging time in the history of the NHS. Bob and his team achieved this by creating international links that allowed the team to source stock directly from PPE factories while building a relationship with the British Standards Institution that ensured they could check the validity of all the products being offered. They also set up a PPE warehouse operation overnight to manage their stocks, and through an Inventory Management System were able to closely monitor stock levels, identify trends and react before any PPE lines became critical. Through effective planning and communication, the team were able to react, adapt and innovate on a daily basis to the quickly changing environment, and from focusing on six key Covid-19 wards and ITUs, they are now tasked with supporting all clinical and non-clinical areas to keep everyone protected and safe. Throughout this critical time, the team remained strongly motivated and focused on getting the job done especially when the pressure was on, with many staff taking on different roles that were unfamiliar to them. This was a credit to Bob’s leadership skills and the excellent relationship he has built with each and every member of his team. Far from fading into the background again, the procurement team is now seen as a trusted partner across the clinical divisions with a reputation for getting things done.