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Staff across the Royal Free London (RFL) were recognised last night for their stellar achievements over the past twelve months at the group RFL staff Oscars.
In recent weeks, site Oscars events have been held, with last night’s awards at the Emirates stadium celebrating the group-wide winners in 14 categories.
Speaking at the event, which was attended by over 300 staff, chair of the RFL Mark Lam said it was a privilege to be a part of the trust.
“There were over 900 nominations from across the trust for the Oscars awards this year, which was the highest number of nominations ever received and it’s so special to be here to recognise everything you have achieved this year.”
Chief executive Peter Landstrom reflected on the past year for the RFL, and touched on the recently launched five-year trust clinical strategy.
“Every single one of us in every site and department has a part to play – whether we’re booking patients into their appointments, welcoming them when they arrive at our buildings, offering them vital care and treatment, ensuring we stick to our budgets, or checking in on our colleagues.
“The RFL Oscars is an opportunity for us to take time out to say thank you to all our staff – not just the winners from our site awards who join us this evening – who make this organisation a wonderful place to work.”
Each year the Royal Free Charity supports the awards, with chief executive of the charity Jon Spiers saying:
“We sponsor these awards every year because it’s really important to us that you are recognised for the extraordinary work you do.
“We know from the response to our fundraising appeals that these things are also really important to our local communities. It’s thanks to our supporters’ generosity that we can do what we do to help you, your colleagues and your patients.”
The charity invites a special guest to attend the awards every year, with this year’s being actor and comedian Stephen Mangan. He spoke about how he and his family have been patients of the trust for decades, and thanked staff for all of their hard work.
“What you do, and the service you provide impacts people enormously," Stephen said. "Every aspect of the hospitals, every department, from the people that we meet as the general public to the people that we never see - you all make a huge impact on our lives. I am delighted to be here tonight to celebrate your success he said.
Keep reading below to learn more about our group Oscars winners.
Clinical team of the year
Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals paediatric diabetes team
This team has implemented new NICE guidance for their service and upskilling the team and others in highly specialist and complex technology.
A key priority for them has been to ensure equity of access for patients, finding solutions such as interpreters for families where English is a second language, using alternative training methods where additional needs may be present and looking at funding applications to support access to technology for families from lower economic backgrounds.
Outstanding contribution to education
Nurse education team
This team is passionate and committed to excellence, producing high quality teaching that is evidence based and continuously evaluated. They have developed a healthcare support worker level 2 apprenticeship to address the difficulties of recruiting and retaining healthcare assistants, helping to attain our recent ‘Good’ rating by Ofsted for our provision of apprenticeships.
Clinician of the year
Brooke Reeve, emergency imaging manager
Brooke has helped improve patient flow through our emergency departments. By working with external stakeholders and partners, she has successfully reduced turnaround times for radiological services, helping to reduce waiting times and accelerating diagnosis and treatment which is critical in emergency settings.
She has also been instrumental in creating robust standard operating procedures and business continuity plans, improving safety and ensuring that high standards of care are maintained consistently.
Non-clinical team of the year
The outpatients appointment centre and central admissions
The outpatient appointment centre and central admissions play a vital role for the trust, leading the text reminder service, booking 2,000 pre-operative appointments a month, organising 350 operating lists a week across theatres and endoscopy suites, supporting outpatient departments with clinic templates, managing cancellations while keeping patients informed, and helping clinical teams to triage referrals.
One colleague said: “We couldn’t be prouder of how this large department works seamlessly together.”
Non-clinical employee of the year
Taran Mandair, ward administrator, 11 South
The winner is described as having "an innate curiosity for his role and knows instinctively how to make things better for the team and patients. His journey from a Project Choice intern to a permanent ward administrator for the infectious diseases team exemplifies his dedication to his work and remarkable professional and personal growth".
His colleagues said: “He has had a profound impact on his colleagues and patients. He has merged into the team so well that it is very difficult to imagine the ward without him. He is an advocate for young people with disabilities and his ongoing contributions to creating a welcoming and supportive workplace make him an outstanding candidate for this award.”
Group shining star award
Margaret O’Connor, rota manager
Colleagues who nominated this person described her as the "glue that holds the team together".
Always the first to arrive and the last to leave, she goes "above and beyond", organising fundraising events to upgrade the unit’s rooms, helping staff resolve working life niggles and organising celebratory events for key milestones.
They said she is more than just a colleague; “she’s a friend, a mentor, and a ray of sunshine on even the darkest days”.
Group outstanding contribution to patient safety
Royal Free Hospital health services for the elderly MDT
This team’s campaign to encourage elderly patients to move more during their hospital stay is already starting to show impressive results. More than half the number of patients are now getting out of bed at lunchtime and there has been a reduction in falls and pressure ulcers – two of the main challenges. This has also had a knock-on effect on length of stay and is helping to improve the flow of patients through our hospital.
Group outstanding contribution to research award
Professor Marianna Fontana, professor of cardiology (award picked up on her behalf by Rebecca Longmate, RFH director of nursing)
Professor Fontana is an expert in her field with an international reputation. She has made critical and novel contributions to the diagnosis, evaluation and management of cardiac amyloidosis, a rare disease caused by abnormal protein in the heart tissue which makes it hard for the heart to work properly.
Her research has been rapidly adopted by clinicians throughout the world and is improving patient care and outcomes. She has advanced the diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis, through the establishment of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) as a diagnostic tool for this condition.
Group quality improvement and efficiency award
Mimoza Qoba, CAMHS clinical lead
Mimoza has made significant improvements to how the hospital supports young people in a mental health crisis, with a drop in the number of admissions, shorter lengths of stay and reduced waiting times in our departments all being noted.
She has helped set up crisis hubs across north central London to establish equity of care across the patch, and introduced mental health crisis clinicians to all our emergency departments. Under this model patients also receive support calls to their homes and families and carers can ring the crisis hubs for advice.
Group celebrating diversity award
Withstand programme project team
The programme team have been involved in running a programme designed to encourage career progression at the RFL. The course covers everything from valuing your identity to identifying strengths and developing leadership skills and practice. There have been two cohorts this year, and feedback from participants has been excellent, with everyone agreeing that it has positively contributed to diversity goals within the trust.
Volunteer of the year
The infant feeding support volunteers
This group of volunteers are an invaluable support to staff and patients alike. They invest their time to offer feeding support to new mothers through compassionate teaching and encouragement, which has generated excellent feedback from families.
One family shared their gratitude for the team after they spotted their child’s tongue tie and then spent hours with them getting the feeding to work.
Royal Free Charity supporter of the year
Professor Julian Gillmore, professor of medicine and head of the National Amyloidosis Centre (award picked up on Julian's behalf by Tim Callaghan, RFH director of financial performance and deputy group chief finance officer)
Professor Gillmore has long been committed to the Royal Free Charity, with his energy always being second to none, working tirelessly to engage with supporters and the local community to raise funds and the profile of the charity.
He is a champion of the national amyloidosis centre and give up their time to give tours to our donors so they can see first-hand the impact of their donations on the centre. The charity's donors praise him for his kindness, commitment, and expertise and he continues to inspire patients to support the charity as a way of thanking the centre for their care.
Chairman’s leadership award
Louise Gillard, senior matron
Louise is described as an exceptional leader, always ensuring that her division is performing above standard by giving her time and being actively involved with her colleagues’ concerns.
Since joining the trust, she has worked to reduce her team’s vacancy rate and improve staff morale. She is a role model for many, motivating her colleagues to do their best and provide exceptional care for our patients.
Living our values award
Deborah Kirby, matron
Those who nominated Deborah said she is extremely committed to her job and leaves her door open regardless of how busy she may be.
Not only is she committed to those in intensive care, but through her role within the staff experience team she ensures other areas within the hospital benefit too – by enhancing their rest areas and encouraging wards to establish staff councils so that everyone feels included, valued and listened to.
