Celebrating our excellent colleagues and volunteers- Nominations now open!
Our Excellence Awards is new for 2021 and replaces our Best Possible Care Awards. The awards will take place virtually again this year due to COVID and are supported by the Northamptonshire Health Charity.
The awards celebrate the people and teams who make a real difference to the way we work and our patient care, regardless of where they work or volunteer in the hospital. If one of your colleagues or your team, or someone who has cared for you, has gone above and beyond to exceed expectations now is your chance to get them the recognition they deserve.
This is a great opportunity to think about how members of our team live our Group values:
- Compassion- We care about our patients and each other. We consistently show kindness and empathy and take the time to imagine ourselves in other people's shoes.
- Accountability- We take responsibility for our decisions, our actions and our behaviours. We do what we say we will do, when we say we will do it. We acknowledge our mistakes and we learn.
- Respect- We values each other, embrace diversity and make sure everyone feels included. We take the time to listen to, appreciate and understand the thoughts, beliefs and feelings of others.
- Integrity- We are consistently open, honest and trustworthy. We can be relied upon, we stand by our values and we always try to strive to do the right thing.
- Courage- We dare to take on difficult challenges and try out new things. We find the strength to speak up when it matters and we see potential failure as an opportunity to learn and improve.
Nominations will close at midnight on Wednesday 3 November 2021.
Please use the nomination form below to submit your nomination to us. All award categories are listed below, please read these carefully before submitting your nomination to make sure your nominee has the best chance at being shortlisted.
We have also included some tips below on how to make your nomination stand out.
Award categories:
- Clinical team of the year award: Celebrating the very best of our teams at NGH. We want to know what these teams have done to improve your experience at NGH. Have they gone above and beyond to provide exceptional care? Have they introduced new ways of working to improve things for others? Perhaps they’ve pulled together as a team in difficult circumstances. We want you to tell us about the impact they have had. What they’ve done and how they’ve done it. We’re looking for stand-out moments and teams who do everything to represent our values.
- Non-clinical team of the year award: Celebrating the very best of our teams at NGH. We want to know what these teams have done to improve your experience at NGH. Have they gone above and beyond to provide exceptional support? Have they introduced new ways of working to improve things for others? Maybe they’ve pulled together as a team in difficult circumstances to overcome adversity. We want you to tell us about the impact they have had. What they’ve done and how they’ve done it. We’re looking for stand-out moments and teams who do everything to represent our values.
- Patient experience award: Celebrating the people who put the experience of our patients at the heart of everything they do. Tell us about the people and teams who show they are always listening to and acting on patient feedback. We want to know who has been there and gone over and above to support patients during challenging times or who have made a memorable difference to patients. These are the people who use their expertise, skills and knowledge to make things better every day for our patients.
- Respect, support and inclusion award: Recognising the people who put others first. This award recognises the people who put respect, support and inclusion at the forefront of everything they do. They're the people who see individuals as unique and who are prepared to break down barriers to equality and challenge colleagues to see things in a new way. We want to know about those people who; provide support when things aren't right, who have been there to support their colleagues, the ones who understand and provide solutions to problems and who always champion change.
- Research and innovation award: Celebrating innovative thinkers and people who drive new ways of doing things. These are the people who bring forward new ideas, the ones who take the initiative to implement change and the people who are always striving to work and care in new ways.It could be that they've helped to implement a new system, championed and supported patients or staff through research studies or they've found a solution to a problem to make things better.
- Unsung hero individual award (clinical): We want you to help us find the people who quietly go above and beyond the call of duty to support each other and our patients. These are the people who represent the values of NGH and put their full energy and commitment into everything they do. We want to know about those people who make the hospital experience better for others and know why you think they deserve to be our unsung hero.
- Unsung hero individual award (non-clinical): We want you to help us find the people who quietly go above and beyond the call of duty to support each other and our patients. These are the people who represent the values of NGH and put their full energy and commitment into everything they do. We want to know about those people who make the hospital experience better for others and know why you think they deserve to be our unsung hero.
- Volunteer of the year award: This category celebrates our volunteers who go the extra mile to support our patients, staff and visitors. These are the people who welcome us with a smile, who hold the hands of our patients and give their time for free to help their local community. We want to know who’s made a difference to you. Whether it’s helping in an extraordinary circumstance or always being dependable we want to know about these exceptional people.
- Caring through COVID team award: The COVID pandemic has brought with it many challenges for staff, patients and visitors. We've seen many examples of staff coping with increased pressures and disruption to work and home life. This is your chance to nominate an individual and/or a team and recognise their contribution during COVID. We want you to tell us about those extraordinary teams who have provided exceptional support and care throughout the pandemic.
- Caring through COVID individual award: The COVID pandemic has brought with it many challenges for staff, patients and visitors. We've seen many examples of staff coping with increased pressures and disruption to work and home life. This is your chance to nominate an individual and/or a team and recognise their contribution during COVID. We want you to tell us about those extraordinary individuals who have provided exceptional support and care throughout the pandemic.
- Inspirational colleague award: We want to know about the people who inspire you and encourage you. These are the people who influence those around them and inspire people to be the best they can be. They may have overcome adversity, provided guidance and reassurance in challenging times or just been a constant support to those around them. These are the people who often don’t recognise how amazing they are and the difference they bring to NGH.
- Best use of charitable funds award (Sponsored by Northamptonshire Health Charity): for an individual or team who have made the best use of charitable funds donated by Northamptonshire Health Charity to their department. These are people who have helped to raise the profile of a specific event or the Northamptonshire Health Charity. This categories shines a spotlight on how the money fundraised by our local community has been spent and how it’s enhanced patient care or improved the hospital.
Thank you to the Northamptonshire Health Charity for their ongoing support of the awards.
Make your nomination using the below form
Before making your nomination please have a look at our tips for writing a good award submission
Nomination form:
Nominating a staff member or volunteer for an award is a great way to recognise their achievements and the support they've given to you. To help to get your nomination recognised we've put together some tips below of how you can make your award submission stand out.
- Submission forms have a word limit of 500 words
Get to know the category you are nominating the individual for. These are all listed above with a brief explanation
- If you're not sure on which category they fit into write your nomination first and then go back to see which category suits their achievements
- Think about what the person or team did and work out the key information that will get them recognised
- Try not to repeat information or phrases, we are looking for information and a full picture of what the person did and how it made a difference
- Write in an easy to understand language. Please try to avoid acronyms and make sure it's clear for someone who doesn't know the individual to understand. It's always good to ask someone else to read the nomination before you submit it
- Think about the evidence you can give in your nomination and how you can justify your points
- Write your submission and then edit it to make sure the key points are covered. Remember it's about quality not quantity
- Avoid phrases such as they're a smiley person or they're good at their job- these don't tell us how they've made a difference
- Don't use the same nomination for multiple people. Make them unique and they are more likely to be noticed