‘Outstanding’ NHS staff praised during virtual awards ceremony
WORK across NHS Shetland during the last year was celebrated during a virtual Excellence in Care Awards event on Friday.
The aim of the awards ceremony was to shine a light on services and work across the health board, including those that are not always in the public eye.
A special focus was on how services have dealt with the coronavirus pandemic.
Organiser Kathleen Carolan, who is NHS Shetland’s director of nursing and acute services, said “patient safety, recognising trauma, improving access and individualised care were strong themes”.
In the practice education category the work of senior infection control nurse Linda Turner and trainee infection control nurse Michelle Wilkinson was recognised.
They spoke about supporting care homes during the pandemic in terms of infection prevention and control.
In the innovation in practice section, principal audiologist Claire Rogers was praised for her work in redesigning audiology pathways and moving the department onto a more tech-driven footing.
The person-centred care category saw joint winners honoured – midwife Hannah McCluskey and advanced specialist nurse for diabetes Alison Irvine.
McCluskey told of how she redesigned the pathway for women experiencing pregnancy loss, while Irvine spoke about supporting patients with a long-term condition in the pandemic.
Dr Judith Pinnick from Lerwick Health Centre was recognised in the prevention section, with her work focusing on reviewing the use of asthma inhalers.
The fifth category recognised innovation during the pandemic and included any aspect of service improvement.
This recognition went to midwife Elin Chiltern for her work on developing the medical termination of pregnancy pathway during the pandemic.
Chair of the judging panel and NHS Shetland non-executive board member Jane Haswell said the presentations had created a “true festival” of the NHS Shetland team’s efforts and achievements.
“The panel wanted to convey to everybody that what was presented was outstanding,” she said.
“What shone through was real evidence of integrated learning and quality improvement. It really was a festival of achievement.”
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