A Tameside Hospital team has been praised in the Trust's 'Who's Your Hero' awards.

When Siobhan McKay was deciding which of her team was worthy for the award she couldn’t decide which colleagues to nominate, as she says they are all fantastic.

So Siobhan, who is Deputy Directorate Manager, Clinical Support Services at Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS FT decided there was only one thing she could do - nominate all 32 of them!

Siobhan said: “I nominated the whole team because I felt there had been recognition for the work of all of our dedicated clinical teams during the pandemic but our administration teams also played their part.

“I have a fantastic team who just came to work day after day and did whatever was asked of them without complaint and recognised that we had to deliver services differently. 

“Patients were coming to the hospital alone and distressed and my staff very often had to deal with relatives and carers who were unable to be with their loved ones and so were themselves anxious and distressed.

“Lots of the staff had their own challenges with Covid-19, including staff who contracted the virus and were ill themselves or had family members in similar circumstances and were able to both sympathise and empathise with both patients and carers.” 

She continued: “Some of my staff have also been involved in the roll-out of the vaccine programme alongside their work for me and lots of staff have volunteered their time to staff in other areas when staffing has been challenging due to high staff absence.

“They have shown resilience and strength throughout the pandemic, it has been challenging to work in Urgent Care as the public has expectations of the delivery of those services which has changed drastically during the last two years, as has the way we deliver those services. 

“The staff recognised that this was a time like no other and just rose to any challenge without complaint, worked longer days, changed working hours to meet service need and generally came to work every day and did whatever was asked of them.

“For both me and my team, we are proud to work within administration and see it as a profession like any other. We are proud to work for the Trust and the NHS, contributing to the delivery of our services and the patient journey and their dedication and professionalism is a credit to them.”

Trust Chief Executive Karen James agreed with Siobhan that to leave anyone out would have been wrong. 

She said: “The team pulled together during challenging times. They couldn’t all be together for the presentation but I was delighted to present those who could be there with their well-deserved award, which they accepted on behalf of their colleagues.”

• Staff pictured with Siobhan and Chief Executive Karen James OBE, who presented the award, are: Joanne Goodwin, A&E Supervisor, Valerie Speers, A&E Receptionist, Tina Vesper, A&E Receptionist, Kami Mistry, A&E Receptionist, Lisa Batak, A&E Receptionist, Emma Baxter, A&E Receptionist, Donna Halton, Clerical Officer, Urgent Care.

• Members of the team not pictured are: Grace Williams, Clerical Officer, Urgent Care, Ethel Asam, Clerical Officer, Urgent Care, Katarzyna Gielo, Clerical Officer, Urgent Care, Mary Terry, Clerical Officer, Urgent Care, Natalie Davies-Penkett, A&E Receptionist, Stacey Carver, A&E Receptionist, Pauline Caveney, A&E Receptionist, Nikki Jackson, A&E Receptionist, Adele Halton, A&E Receptionist, Lorraine Halliwell, A&E Receptionist, Kathleen Nightingale, A&E Receptionist, Maria Pimlott, A&E Receptionist, Francesca Williams, A&E Receptionist, Rebecca Brant, A&E Receptionist, Elizabeth Croft, A&E Receptionist, Lisa Travis, A&E Receptionist, Margaret Langford, A&E Receptionist, Irene Fine, A&E Receptionist, Taiyebah Khan, A&E Receptionist.

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