Hospital staff and teams have been recognised for their incredible efforts in another tough year for health workers.

The winners in the annual awards at Medway Maritime Hospital were announced for those who had gone the extra mile or shown great passion and commitment to helping patients and colleagues around the hospital.

The Medway Maritime Hospital 2021 Hospital Hero Award winner. Video: Medway NHS Trust/YouTube

Medway NHS Trust chief executive Dr George Findlay presented 10 awards to the worthy winners shortly before Christmas.

An awards ceremony taking place in person was again postponed due to Covid restrictions so Dr Findlay handed over trophies to each winner which was filmed and shared on YouTube for patients, staff and the public to watch.

Colleagues nominated peers across nine categories with the final category, the Hospital Hero Award, nominated by patients and KentOnline readers with the winner chosen by the editorial team at the Medway Messenger.

The award looks for a member of staff put forward by the public to select someone who had shown superb dedication to helping patients and had gone above and beyond.

There were dozens of nominees but the award was given to Alison Youdale, an advanced neonatal nurse practitioner on the Oliver Fisher Special Care Baby Unit.

The family who nominated Alison were amazed by her support for them after they had lost a baby in a premature birth leaving them devastated.

Alison helped the family with the grieving process, attended the funeral and took time on her days off to attend appointments with them and talk them through.

When the couple fell pregnant again, Alison was on hand to relieve their anxieties and guide them through the pregnancy happily and healthily.

Matt Ramsden, editor of the Medway Messenger, said: “We chose Alison because of her amazing work helping grieving families. The support she has shown to the family who nominated her in particular demonstrates how dedicated she is to supporting people in her care.

“As a newspaper, we often speak to bereaved families and know the incredibly stressful and upsetting time they are going through will be the hardest of challenges in life.

"So, for Alison to show such amazing commitment to her patients, visiting on her days off, talking to families when they have returned home, checking in with them and making sure they're doing as best as they can in the circumstances, we felt is truly inspirational.

“Congratulations Alison. Keep up the amazing work.”

Samira McDonald, a bank staff member on Lister Ward, and Yvonne Morrison, lead specialist bereavement midwife, were also given special mentions for their nominations and the support they had shown to patients.

A range of nominees were submitted including canteen staff, porters and doctors and nurses from a range of specialisms across different departments at the hospital.

The winners in the remaining categories picked by hospital colleagues were:

• Vision and Values Award – Lowella Suba Nurse Co-ordinator for Frailty Flow Pathways, Elderly Care
• Teamwork Award – Pharmacy Team Highly commended - Iram Ahmed, Acting General Manager for Diagnostics and Clinical Support Services
• Learning and Innovation Award – Simulation Team
• Equality and Inclusion Award – Alexandra (Dianne) Sobers, Medical Records Manager
• Employee of the Year Award – Amber Servante, Clinical Support Worker on Trafalgar Ward
• Team of the Year Award – Dolphin Ward
• Support and Compassion Award – Claire Harrison, Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) Officer (awarded posthumously) Highly commended – Pat Craddock, Ward Hostess
• Goals and Performance Award – McCulloch Ward
• Volunteer of the Year Award – Therapy dogs Yazzy, Poppy and Fred awarded to their owners, volunteer Janice McCauley, bank Clinical Support Worker Charlotte Dawson and the Trust’s Voluntary Services Manager Zoe Goodman

Speaking about the awards, Dr Findlay said: "The awards really are a fantastic way for us, as an organisation, to recognise and reward those who have gone the extra mile, or shown great passion and commitment to making our work environment the best it can be for both colleagues and patients.

"Importantly, they let staff know that their hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed, something that is really needed after the tough couple of years we’ve all faced due to the pandemic.

“More than 115 nominations were submitted in total and the standard of entries was extremely high, which is fantastic so a huge thank you to everyone who submitted a nomination.

“Congratulations to all of the winners and those who were highly commended or received a special mention in this year’s awards, you should be extremely proud.

“And to all of our staff, thank you for everything that you do - day in day out. Your work does not go unnoticed.”

Watch the full presentation at www.youtube.com/watch?v=RedwuadDJAI