Rewards and Recognition

During my quite lengthy stay in hospital (five weeks), my nurse Bernadette was completely and utterly an angel in disguise. I had been suffering with acute psychosis which made me unable to eat and had to be fed with a nasogastric tube. I was terribly sick at the beginning of my stay but improved slowly. Bernadette wasn’t even a mental health nurse yet she knew exactly how to treat me! She was kind and compassionate and very professional. She was always smiling and giving words of wisdom to me and making me feel happy even when I was sad. I think this is a unique case because this is about a physical health nurse treating a patient with mental health and physical health problems. I will always remember the care that I was given on this ward and by Bernadette. Thank you so much for everything.

I just think there is an exceptional nurse who deserves this recognition. She has basically trained every nurse on the ward (hyper-acute stroke unit- HASU), written the protocols for a safe stroke service and, well, I could go on. She is the driving force behind the service and doesn’t get much recognition for this. She is approachable, supportive and nothing is ever too much. She is a role model to all nurses and someone I look up to daily - truly an inspiration.

Selina is always encouraging, motivating and supportive. Selina is always looking for ways to improve the stroke service at UCLH and NHNN.

Recently she started up a 14 day call back service for patients to see how things were after leaving the ward. To make sure they understood everything make sure they were on the correct medications and to go through any concerns with them. This brought up multiple problems and we started to realise things needed to be improved on discharge. She has prevented multiple re admissions, possibly prevented patients having another stroke or worse. We have now changed our discharge pathway and documentation from this. Her communication with patients is admirable.

She is also, while doing all this incredible work, still teaching everyone and passing on her knowledge. This is not only to nurses this is to our junior doctors and specialist registrar. She is doing all of this while setting up a strokeunit in Malawi. I am honestly in absolute awe of her and her dedication to improving patient care. She is a special person but an even more special nurse.

Wow, what a stellar nurse.  From the moment we met, she knew my case, was planning my treatment and care, all with the utmost kindness, compassion, skill, competency and super efficiency. I was made to feel I was the only patient the hospital had that day. Nothing was too much trouble to explain, and Siobhan went far beyond the call of duty when it came to the care and treatment and healing I needed.  She was so, so thoughtful.  And so very reassuring - from the first moment I knew I could trust her with my healthcare needs.  Clearly, I was not alone. I witnessed her dealing with other patients in the same manner. I was very impressed with her respect for other members of staff too. It was only as I was due to leave that I learnt she had a train to catch. What a commitment – putting the interests of a patient, ahead of her own need to leave in time to catch her train, and not once was I made to feel hurried. I really do hope you can find a way of recognizing Ms Price, for such a wonderful person deserves praise and reward for their unflinching commitment to give patients the very best experience possible.

Throughout my pregnancy, a period where most women can feel at their most vulnerable and often feel a loss of control over how their bodies are treated, Meg was a voice of re-assurance, calm and support to me, encouraging me that the decisions I was making based on the evidence I had read were correct, at a time when the majority of the medical community was, it seemed, intent on working against me by trying to push me down a different path.

Meg and her evidence-based work at UCLH is supporting so many women to make the right decisions for both their and their babies' health, but also to the benefit of the NHS at large through offering women the option of a VBAC in a calm, safe and supportive environment, providing the greatest chance of success.

Meg empowered me to make the decision to cancel my "back up" C-section and do everything I could to try to have a successful VBAC.

Meg is a brave champion of women who stands up for them at their greatest time of need, and is a progressive, informed and modernising force in the NHS. It is difficult to put into words the impact Meg had on me, or how much gratitude I feel towards her for putting control back into my hands and empowering me at a time when I was feeling so vulnerable.

I wish every woman attempting VBAC would be lucky enough to experience the care and support I received from Meg and her team at UCLH. I sincerely wish that the incredible work they are doing at UCLH will be recognised with the Daisy Award and that hospitals across the country will take note and follow their lead!