Staff at the Royal United Hospital in Bath have been recognised for their “outstanding” professional achievements during the past year.
The hospital’s annual awards ceremony celebrated individuals and teams who have shone, both as part of the response to the pandemic and in spite of it.
Chief Executive Cara Charles-Barks said: “I am so proud of everyone at the RUH for their hard work and dedication over this difficult past year.
“I am in awe of how much we achieved by working together, always keeping patient-centred compassionate care at the heart of what we do.
“It was an absolute honour to recognise some of those most special achievements and say thank you to teams and individuals who really went above and beyond.”
As well as the awards ceremony, all staff across the hospital received a thank you card with a badge as a special token of appreciation in recognition of the huge team effort during the pandemic.
Cara explained: “Alongside our award winners, we also wanted to acknowledge that this year more than any other, all our staff have pulled together to work in new ways to support patients, families, carers and each other, and we wanted to say thank you.”
This year’s ceremony was virtual, with colleagues surprised with their awards while they were at work.
The Discharge Hub was named Team of the Year for going the extra mile to provide a welcoming and comfortable environment for patients waiting to go home later that day.
The hub also helps to ensure that wards have beds available for new patients who need care.
The Specialist Palliative Care Team won the honour of Most Innovative Team of the Year for continually striving to provide the most compassionate support for patients and families.
They were recognised for their ‘can do’ attitude to empowering staff to make a difference.
Non-frontline services were also acknowledged, including those that played a big part in supporting staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Fit Testing team, which fitted NHS colleagues from the hospital and the wider community with personal protective equipment, the Incident Coordination Centre, who worked 24/7 to centrally manage the hospital’s day to day response, and Staffing Command, who coordinated staffing while teams were affected by staff sickness and self-isolation, all received special COVID-19 Team of the Year awards.
Other winners included the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Outpatient Clinic team who transformed their service to provide more support for patients in managing their illness, the Research team who played a vital role in vaccination and COVID-19 treatment trials, and former admin colleague Juliet Newton, who was so inspired by her experience volunteering as a healthcare assistant when the pandemic first began that she has now decided to take on the role permanently.
Chair Alison Ryan said: “We have seen each and every person step up magnificently to fight against the pandemic, and I was blown away to hear these fantastic achievements.
“Well done to all the winners – you truly deserve the honour.”
