Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust has won two major London healthcare awards only days after being shortlisted for the U.K’s largest national healthcare award.
The Trust was announced as the winner in two categories of the London Regional NHS Parliamentary Awards – which recognises the outstanding contribution of health and care workers and is nominated by MPs.
Kate Hudson, the Trust’s Lead Dementia Nurse Specialist won the “Care and Compassion Award” for her work supporting dementia patients.
Then, the “Wellbeing at Work Award”, was won by all staff, thanks to the enormous contribution the trust’s respect and compassion programme.
In a statement to Eastlondonlines, Hudson said: “My job has been made much easier through the amazing support from colleagues on the wards and in the emergency department, who are really committed to person-centred care for dementia patients. So, I feel that this award is as much for my colleagues as it is for me.”
Her work includes championing virtual visits for patients, organising pet therapy sessions and tea parties, giving patients gift boxes and training colleagues to provide compassionate care.
Vicky Foxcroft, MP for Lewisham Deptford, who nominated the trust said: “The Trust has made great strides towards tackling bullying, harassment and discrimination, as well as improving staff wellbeing. Its efforts to drive and sustain these improvements deserve recognition.”
Respect and Compassion Programme
Last week the Trust was nominated out of a thousand entries for the Health Service Journal (HSJ) 2020 “Workplace Initiative of the Year” award, for its major drive to make the hospital a great place to work for its 6,700 staff.
The respect and compassion programme began in early 2019 to address concerns that the organisation’s workforce needed greater support than they were receiving.
Since then, it has succeeded in halving the 17.5% vacancy rate in 2018, improving equality and diversity among staff, appointing 150 staff as wellbeing champions, and training 30 mental health first aiders, among many other achievements.
A trust spokesperson told ELL: “Our aim with the respect and compassion programme has been to make the trust a great place to work and the award has been a nice by-product of that.”
“The end goal is never to win an award… [but rather] our vision is to get it right for every patient, every time.”
This year will be the 40th anniversary of the HSJ awards and will be especially important considering the role that frontline NHS staff have played in tackling the pandemic with stretched resources. The winner will be announced in March 2021.
But the recognition of LGT’s good work extends beyond the HSJ and Parliamentary Awards. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has applauded significant improvements at LGT since the inception of the respect and compassion programme.
The trust is now rated as “Good” in three of the five CQC domains: caring, effective and well-led, whereas before it only had this status in one.
Ben Travis, Chief Executive, said: “We’ve been engaging with staff to ensure… [they] get the support they need. Our focus has been on listening to colleagues and focusing on the things that matter to them.”
