The joyful ceremonies were led by Trust Chair David Walker, CEO Dr Nick Broughton, Chief Nurse Marie Crofts and Director of Corporate Affairs Kerry Rogers.

From left: Henry Osadebe, Dr Fathi Saad, Vince Knight, Rachel Hanks, Tatjana Kovalevica, Amanda Colloff and Tracey Clifford

A sense of relief is probably felt by the whole Trust, thanks to the incredible feat by the Clinical Systems Team who have got two new systems – RiO and EMIS – implemented in record time as a response to the national clinical systems outage.

David said:

“We don’t often get the chance to celebrate colleagues who are not clinical staff, but it is a fact that any service depends on other services, such as yours.”

Nick added:

“What you have done is remarkable and I am sure you have spent long hours on it!”

The team, 40 people in all, have worked round the clock to implement RiO and EMIS, and have completed the work in just two months when normally one would expect a schedule of a year for such a project. No wonder their nominator Lorraine Hirst called the work ‘astonishing.’ She wrote:

“The successful launch means the Trust can now access contemporaneous records for patients. This directly impacts on almost every patient accessing Oxford Health. Their work has made such a difference already.”

Allen ward compassion and commitment

From left: Regina Duodu (Modern Matron), Nokuthula Ndimande (Senior Matron), Dr Katherine Reid (ST5), Mercy Ejemole (Staff Nurse), Hannah Woodford (Modern Matron) and Jamie-Louise Franklin (Ward Manager)

Allen ward nursing team and Dr Olga-Maria Tsatalou were recognised for providing continued excellent care despite changes in leadership. They were nominated by head of nursing Natalie Cleveland who quoted patient feedback:

“You have been endlessly generous with your time and have shown a level of compassion and commitment I have never experienced before.”

Inspirational lead Emma

Emma Croft

Emma Croft had been nominated by Lucy Gardner, Professional Lead Dietitian in Mental Health & LD, who praised Emma as a terrific role model and inspirational leader. She wrote:

“Emma is one of the most inspirational leads I have worked with. She seeks to deliver excellence, leading, supporting and developing others. She demonstrates by example how effective teamwork makes a difference and can be relied upon despite her own very busy workload. She is a natural cheerleader and is full of enthusiasm and positivity which is invaluable in terms of staff morale. She is highly professional, passionate about improvement, but also has a sense of fun. What makes a difference is the way she does her job; the compassion she shows for others, her innovation skills and her commitment to Team AHP.”