Celebrating our excellent colleagues and volunteers
Nominations have now closed. Thank you to all those who have taken the time to nominate. Names of those individuals and teams shortlisted will be published before our event on 16 March 2023.
Our Excellence 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. When you are nominating colleagues, volunteers or fundraisers please think about how they demonstrate our hospital values.
Nominations closed at midnight on Sunday 22 January 2023.
Thank you to the Northamptonshire Health Charity for their continued support and sponsorship for the event.
All award categories are listed below, please read these and our tips for writing a good award submission carefully before submitting your nomination to make sure your nominee has the best chance at being shortlisted.
Group categories: We have five Group awards across the UHN Group.
Patient Experience Award (Respect)
Celebrating those who put the experience and safety of our patients at the heart of everything they do. Tell us about the people or teams who have our values are at the heart of everything they do; they are respectful, 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 or team who use their expertise, skills and knowledge to make things better every day for our patients.
Excellence in Collaboration and Partnerships Award (Integrity)
Working with integrity as part of a Hospital Group brings with it lots of opportunities and the chance to bring together new ideas, ways of working and build new teams together. We want to know how people or teams who have our values are at the heart of everything they do have shown or seen Excellence in Collaboration. Have you been treated by a team working across the Group or have you worked together with another person or team to improve patient care or experience? Tell us how collaboration and partnership working has made a difference to you.
Sustainability Champion Award (Accountability)
Looking after the world we live in is important to ensure the NHS is sustainable for future generations and our local community.
This award celebrates those who have taken accountability and bring change to help the NHS on the journey to be the world’s first net carbon zero health service. We want to hear about those people or teams who have our values are at the heart of everything they do and are championing change to make our hospitals and the NHS a more sustainable place for our patients, colleagues and visitors. Whether it’s working to reduce paper use, looking at how we use medical gases or reducing PPE we want to know who is championing sustainability.
Supporting Staff Wellbeing Award (Compassion)
After a challenging couple of years for the NHS, wellbeing is more important than ever and looking after the people who look after our patients is key to improved patient experience and wellbeing. We want to know about the compassionate people or teams who have our values are at the heart of everything they do and have gone over and beyond to look after their colleagues and check on their wellbeing. Whether it’s checking in on colleagues, providing some wellbeing treats or making improvements to working environments or gardens, we want to know who makes a difference to your wellbeing at work.
Patient Safety Award (Courage)
Patient Safety is at the heart of everything we do. Patient safety plays a part in everything we do in all roles across the organisation, both clinical and non-clinical. We want to know about the people or teams who have our values are at the heart of everything they do and have the courage to drive improvements in quality of care and culture. These are the people or teams who use their expertise, skills and knowledge to make things better every day for our patients.
Individual Awards for KGH AND NGH
Excellence in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award (Respect)
Recognising those who have our values are at the heart of everything they do by putting others first and celebrate our diverse teams. This award recognises the people who put support, inclusion and respect at the forefront of everything they do. They're those 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 or teams 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.
Inspirational Team Award (Clinical and Non-Clinical) (Integrity)
Clinical: Celebrating the very best of our Clinical teams at NGH and KGH who have our values are at the heart of everything they do. We want to know what these teams have done to improve your experience at NGH and KGH.
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: Celebrating the very best of our Non-Clinical teams who support patient care every day and who have our values are at the heart of everything they do. We want to know what these teams have done to improve your experience at NGH and KGH.
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.
Inspirational Individual Award (Clinical and Non-Clinical) (Integrity)
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 and who have our values are at the heart of everything they do. These are the people who inspire us every day and put endless 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.
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 and who have our values are at the heart of everything they do. These are the people who inspire us every day and put endless 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.
Inspirational Volunteer of the Year Award (Integrity and Compassion)
This category celebrates our volunteers who go the extra mile to support our patients, staff and visitors and who have our values are at the heart of everything they do. 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.
Fundraiser of the Year (Sponsored by Northamptonshire Health Charity) (Compassion)
Celebrating those individuals and teams who have raised funds in aid of Northamptonshire Health Charity for their own department. These are people who have showed compassion and who have our values are at the heart of everything they do helping to raise the profile of a specific event or the Northamptonshire Health Charity. This category shines a spotlight on how the money fundraised by colleagues has been spent and how it’s enhanced patient care or improved the hospital.
Research and Innovation Award (Accountability)
Celebrating innovative thinkers who drive new ways of doing things. These are the people or teams who bring forward new ideas, the ones who take the initiative to implement change, are always striving to work and care in new ways and who have our values are at the heart of everything they do. 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.
Dedicated to Development, Learning and Progression (Courage)
This category celebrates those who continue to learn, develop and progress in their work or learning new skills to benefit patients, colleagues and visitors and who have our values are at the heart of everything they do. These might be people or team who identify an area to improve and have the courage to take the initiative to learn new skills or those who empower learning and professional development of themselves and others. Learning comes in all shapes and forms so whether it’s in a classroom, office, or on a ward we want to know who inspires you to learn, develop and keep bringing new ideas to the hospital.
Our Values are:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 so it. We acknowledge our mistakes and we learn from them.
- Respect - We value 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 up on, we stand by our values and we always strive to do the right thing.
Our mission is:-
Provide safe, compassionate and clinically excellent patient care by being an outstanding employer for our people, by creating opportunity and support innovation and by working in partnership to improve local health and social care.
Tips for writing a good award submission
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.
- 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
- Try to link submissions back to our values and explain how the individual or team demonstrated these values in their work
- 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