Meet the 2023/2024 DAISY Award winners

Aries has been training in Moving and Handling for over 4 years and has a great rapport with all staff and especially the Ward Managers ensuring that staff remain competent in safe handling of patients. In that period, he has worked tirelessly on many projects that have had very positive results. 

Sharon was nominated by a patient after supporting them with a long-term health condition, providing her personal phone number for the patient to call as and when needed. The last time the patient called Sharon, she saw them after her clinic had finished, assessed their joints, got a doctor to assess them and put a plan in place. Sharon then called the patient later that day at 7.30pm in the evening and said as she was leaving the hospital, she would drop the patient’s medicines off on her way home. The patient said: “Sharon always goes above and beyond the call of duty. I cannot really put into words the amazing treatment I have received.”

Victoria, a midwife at the Lister, was nominated by a service user who had an emergency transfer from a home birth to the consultant led unit. The service user was relieved to see Victoria who introduced herself and made sure they had the best care possible. The service user nominating Victoria said: “We spent a lot of time in NICU but Victoria made sure she was in constant contact with the nurses there to get updates on our baby’s progress. While we were down in NICU, she had heard that the decision was made that he was able to come back up onto the ward later that day. Without us having to ask, Victoria had changed the room to accommodate the photo therapy light that baby would need, whilst ensuring we would be comfortable. When our baby was bought up from NICU to the ward I heard an excited Victoria say “yay our baby is here”. This short but meaningful sentence meant a lot to us as she genuinely cared that we were being reunited. I didn’t get a chance to say thank you to her upon handover but we are very, very grateful for everything Victoria did and felt for us while we were in her care. Thank you.”

The person who nominated Heather said: “I just want to recognise the angelic Heather. I came into the ward after my 6-week old contract bronchiolitis and RSV. I have been in contact with dozens of healthcare workers, and the care my little one received from Heather was like nothing I’ve experienced before. Heather is kind, empathetic and always went the extra mile for us. You could tell how she spoke and interacted with my little one and me, how much she genuinely cares for her patients. She never made us feel as though we were burdening her with our request and we never felt forgotten.”

Elizabeth, also known as Liz, went above and beyond to support a renal patient and their family at the end of life. During a busy weekend shift, Liz answered a call from the renal outpatient’s relative who was having trouble receiving community support and as a last resort they contacted the renal ward for help. Liz listened to the relative’s query and advised her on ways to get support via 111 and the out of hours GP service. Many would have felt they dealt with the query and moved on, but Liz contact the palliative care team herself and spoke with the on duty district nurse. As a result, the rapid response team visited the patient and the relevant referrals made.

Donny was nominated by a colleague after he went above and beyond to make sure 15 patients were able to receive life-saving treatment at the Harlow renal unit, following another colleague being unable to attend. Donny was on his way to pick up his wife from a night shift, but immediately turned the car around to drive to Harlow and take care of his patients. Over Christmas, Donny and his family also sung carols for the patients at Harlow renal unit whilst they were receiving dialysis. The person nominating Donny said: “His unwavering commitment and hard work to attend the unit 5 times with his family during the busy days on his days off was really a dedication to excellence.” 

Katie was nominated for the support she provided a service user who had spent 2 days in hospital waiting to be induced. The person nominating Katie said: “Within a minute of meeting Katie she had asked about my previous birth experience which had been overwhelmingly negative and established a plan for how this birth could be a completely different experience. Her efficiency, genuine warmth and compassion immediately put me and my husband at ease, which was not easy after a stressful and frustrating few days.” The service user said that she is confident that Katie’s support and expertise transformed her birth experience both physically and psychologically, enabling her to be a better mum to their toddler and new baby post birth. 

Rebecca was nominated by one of our maternity service users who came to the Lister with complications leading to an unexpected early labour. Rebecca listed to the service users’ worries, explained things and advocated for them when they felt overwhelmed and didn’t understand what the doctors were explaining due to them feeling very anxious. The person who nominated Rebecca said: “There aren’t the words to thank her for what she did that day. She was so calm and never made me feel rushed. She’s an absolute asset to your maternity department. By making the birth as calm as possible, and making me feel well informed, meant I felt able to create a wonderful bond with my son immediately.” 

Rommel was nominated on behalf of the senior management team as, during a positive leadership walkaround, they were struck by Rommel’s leadership and the support and encouragement he provided his team. During the walkaround Rommel was able to talk about the positives as well as the challenges they faced as a team, and the ways in which they managed them and put forward ideas to make improvements. 

Jessica is one of our band 6 sisters who works on the Day Surgery Unit. The person nominating Jessica described her as extremely caring and that she always ensures that staff and patients are well cared for and supported. Not only is Jessica always there for her colleagues, she has also recently improved the service by uploading post-op leaflets onto Q codes, which allows patients and parents to easily scan them and save them to their phones. This has been extremely helpful with providing post-op advice. Jessica has also been involved with arranging the ‘Pyjama Fairies’ visit – a charity who provides children with colourful printed theatre gowns, having a positive impact on our patients. 

Amy was recruited into the role as a maternity stop smoking advisor and has been an incredible addition to the maternity team. Amy frequently demonstrates her commitment, kindness and effectiveness in all aspects of this varied and challenging role. Amy has received exceptional feedback from service users and is excellent at adapting to their needs. 

Ruth was nominated for a DAISY Award for the dementia training she provides to colleagues across the Trust. The person nominating Ruth described her as “always welcoming, professional, informative, kind and caring”. Ruth regularly goes above and beyond for all that needs her help. 

Kathy was nominated for a DAISY Award for consistently delivering compassionate patient and family centered care, always prioritising the patient and family’s needs and acting as an advocate where necessary. Not only does Kathy support our patients and their family, but also goes above and beyond for her colleagues ensuring everyone’s voice is heard.

At short notice Shyna had to quickly step-up into a new lead nurse role at the Trust when a colleague was taken sick – something which Shyna did with great skill, dedication and compassion. To ensure she could deliver the best possible care for her patients, she worked hard to develop the skills and knowledge necessary and established a good rapport with patients to support them through their care.

Julie is an Upper Gastro-intestinal Nurse Specialist and was nominated by a patient and her husband for the support she provided during the patient’s treatment for cancer.

Julie’s empathy and compassion was outstanding, but she was also incredibly efficiency and was able to get things done quickly and communicated everything clearly.

Amanda showed care and attention to a woman, who gave birth at the Lister, and also to her partner. Amanda helped the couple feel calm, relaxed and reassured about what would happen during the birth of their little girl. The family said they were “forever grateful and thankful” for the care Amanda gave.

When a patient was referred to the Lister for sepsis, she was transferred to Patience’s care whilst recovering from treatment. During 3 months, Patience understood what was needed and provided smooth, complication free care, often going above and beyond to ensure the patient was well-looked after and recovered well.

After a patient’s brother was admitted to hospital, Rebecca ensured that the family were kept well up-to-date with information relating to their loved one – including that he had eaten most of his dinner, was keeping well hydrated and that he managed to get out of bed. By taking the time to provide this information to the patient’s loved ones they felt reassured and confident that he was being well looked after.

Dionne provided fantastic care following a complicated and dangerous birth, which involved a placental abruption. Dionne went above and beyond during a very hard physical and emotional journey for the patient, taking the time to answer questions, explaining everything clearly and calmly and taking the time to ensure they felt supported.

Claudia was nominated for a DAISY Award by two patients after consistently providing patient-centered care that goes above and beyond expectations. Claudia goes the extra mile to make a significant difference to patients’ lives – caring for both physical health but also emotional and psychological needs, ensuring a holistic healing process. Claudia is an inspiring role model to her colleagues, fostering a culture of excellence and compassion within her team.

“From the moment we met Dede we knew we were in safe hands” – those were the words of the partner of one of our women who gave birth at the Lister in April 2022, following the very sad loss of their baby at another Trust in January 2022. Dede helped ensure both the patient and their partner felt at ease. Dede was present at all appointments, as well as the birth ensuring they felt less anxious and as at ease as possible. Given their previous experiences, Dede made such a difference to the woman and her partner.

Eleanor is passionate about delivering high standards of care to all children she supports and is committed to caring for children with complex needs; this has included applying for the Roald Dahl award to pay for a nurse who can work on the ward to co-ordinate discharges for children. The member of staff who nominated Eleanor “could not be happier that her hard work and passion has paid off”.

Elaine recently supported an individual who was the victim of very serious domestic abuse. The patient was reluctant to engage in services due to an adverse past experience with a community-based provider. However, Elaine quickly recognised the risk to the patient and spent a huge amount of time emotionally supporting them to gain their trust. Elaine encouraged and assisted the individual whilst they accessed the highest level of specialist support in order to achieve an outcome which will best protect the victim from abuse in the future.

Danielle is a midwife at Lister and was nominated by a patient that she supported during their birth. Mother and baby needed to be kept in hospital for a few days to make sure everything was okay leading up to her due date. Danielle kept in contact with the patient throughout their stay, even when she was no longer looking after her, keeping her reassured through their stay in hospital.

Mother and baby are both doing well and are incredibly grateful to Danielle for all her support.