The Only National Awards For Non-Medical / Non-Clinical NHS Staff & Volunteers

Nomination

Award Category:

Admin & Clerical

Individual or Team Nomination?

Team

Nominators Answer

Nominee's story :

Anne and Clare come as a pair - they are the yin and yang that unite to bring peace and prosperity to the often chaotic, often dramatic, and forever wonderful Amulree ward at Murray Royal Hospital in Perth. I worked with them as a junior doctor on the ward and I can honestly say, Amulree, and the other wards they cover (goodness knows how), could never run without their organisation and calm demeanour. They would be there before I came in and were still there when I was leaving - without a doubt this work ethic helped Amulree become a recognised centre for psychiatric rehabilitation in Scotland. To tame the workload there were multiple, fantastically colour-coded, spreadsheets - with prompts sent out for document submission deadlines, polite but repeating with emboldened fonts as these approached. There was hand holding of patients, relatives, and professionals invited for complex and life altering meetings. There were decompressing biscuits with colleagues, downloading after often emotional and challenging clinical encounters- or in my case, the agony I detailed at length, head on desk, of deciding on a training programme. And then there were the numerous little things: moving a desk through a tiny doorway, (cries of Pivot! are still heard). let's not even get started on getting an active phone line, OR mention how Anne sweet-talked physiology into giving us a new ECG machine. Anne and Clare are warm, funny, and give great advice - they are entirely human and yet Artificial Intelligence-level of efficient. Though their role is non-clinical, they could both be counted on to have an impressive knowledge of clinical processes, which is probably how they managed to predict the wards' needs before they were voiced. They have held the hands and heard the woes of many junior doctors, consultants, nurses, and multitudinous other colleagues - and acted as tourist information Scotland for most of us newbies. They have seen the coming and goings of many through happy occasions, such as promotions, and through sorrow. With the recent passing of our wonderful consultant, Dr Chandrasekhar, who also had nothing but praise for them, they helped the team process their grief by organising a memorial book for her. In all my time working within the NHS I have never encountered two people who are as dedicated and as capable at their jobs, in any clinic or non-clinic area of work - and I imagine I never will, unless they decide to clone themselves. I really do wish Annes and Clares for every struggling junior doctor, harassed ward manager, overwhelmed family member, and patient connected by the operator to the wrong department for the 5th time that day. They are truly wonderful and so incredibly dedicated, without the incentive of any formal acknowledgement or reward. When the public or our colleagues feel disheartened by the "state of the NHS", I'd like people to know that such people exist at its backbone - they truly are just that wonderful, please give them a raise and massive public acknowledgement!