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MyPorter Awards - shortlist announced


The shortlist for the MyPorter Awards has been announced, featuring a list of 4 candidates for each of the six award categories, after a judging panel met on Tuesday 18th January to discuss each nomination, its merits and reasons why they should be shortlisted to win. With over 100 entries, this years’ MyPorter Awards has seen it grow vastly from its humble beginnings last year, which saw the single category of awarding the MyPorter Award 2020, which was later won by Claire Blackhall – Chargehand Porter at Wansbeck General Hospital. A live awards ceremony taking place in London, where Claire herself will be there to hand out one of the awards, will see six awards presented to their worthy winners, along with a 3-course meal, and will start the day with a live portering conference. The MyPorter Awards Portering Conference will see guest speakers talking all things portering best practice, team work and wellbeing, with talks from portering peers, mental health experts and from NHSI’s Emma Brookes, Head of Soft FM Strategy and Operation and Philip Shelley, Senior Operational & Policy Manager Soft FM, both of whom were part of the judging panel for the awards, alongside GV Healthcare’s CEO Matt Wright and GV Healthcare (and former Porter Manager at HUTH NHS Trust) Business Development Manager Mark Edwards. The shortlist for the six categories are as follows: Newcomer of The Year Award – shortlist: Kenneth Mcintyre - Royal Berkshire – nominated by Steve SellwoodKevin Smith - Cambridge University Hospitals (Addenbrookes) – nominated by Phil Butters Tracy Banford – Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust – nominated by Mark Stankovich Thomas Foulkes – University Hospital of the North Midlands – nominated by Diane Clarke

Leadership of The Year Award – shortlist: Alison Carter – Stoke Mandeville - Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust – nominated by Alex Gallo Mark Turner – CHoICE (Sunderland) – nominated by Claire Dodds Joseph Ryan – Stepping Hill Hospital - Stockport NHS Foundation Trust – nominated by Steve Whitehead Zaheer Iqbal – Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust – nominated by Mark Stankovich Outstanding Contribution to Patient Experience Award – shortlist: Ian Butler – Milton Keynes University Hospital – nominated by Hannah Burnett Trevor Knight – William Harvey Hospital – nominated by Leanne Knight Radiology Ultrasound Porters Team Addenbrookes Hospital – nominated by Jasanthy Bell Darren Davies – University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire – nominated by Sarah Haynes Portering Team of The Year Award – shortlist:

The Radiology Porter Team at The James Cook University Hospital (South Tees) – nominated by Paula Taggart Alan Shepherd & team – Royal Berkshire – nominated by Steve Sellwood Portering Team at East and North Herts NHS Trust – nominated by Nikki Lane L2 DSU Portering Team – Cambridge University Hospitals – nominated by Graham Johnston Dennis Southern Award – For Endeavour – shortlist: Ken Grant – Cambridge University Hospitals (Addenbrookes) – nominated by Lucy Jobson Nigel Close – University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire – nominated by Sarah Haynes Keith Bellfield – CHoICE (Sunderland) – nominated by Claire Dodds John Shaw – Southport & Ormskirk Hospitals NHS Trust – nominated by Terry Kelly MyPorter Award 2021 – shortlist: Naga Vejandla – East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust – nominated by Nikki Lane John Roe – Sheffield Children’s Hospital – nominated by Kate Mackintosh Leon Hill – Gloucestershire Royal Hospital – nominated by Michelle Morgan Matthew Wood – Tunbridge Wells Hospital – nominated by Alexandra Bolou Congratulations to all those who have been shortlisted – Good Luck in the MyPorter Awards live final. For any questions or queries relating to the MyPorter Awards, please contact:

Is Winter 2021 a ticking time bomb for the NHS?


Most people will have heard about some sort of backlog within the NHS due to the pressures put on the organisation by the Covid-19 pandemic and overcoming that challenge has taken up a large proportion of its resources since March 2020. Just as we thought the NHS was able to get back to concentrating their efforts on routine appointments – up pop new variants raising their ugly heads, with the NHS back to fearing the worst. Thankfully, a successful and largely adopted vaccination programme has meant the number of people being admitted to hospital aren’t overbearing them with the amount coming through their doors, not like those seen at the height of the pandemic, and instead being a more manageable level, but Professor Chris Whitty, England’s Chief Medical Officer has said the rising cases will mean we will “definitely see more hospitalisations”. The problem with even a manageable level is that these are just more additions which take NHS staff away from the essential everyday care of patients they were used to pre-Pandemic - but we know because of the backlog, normality (or whatever the nearest thing to a ‘new normal’ is) is actually a long way off, so each new spike or variant just ensures the backlog isn’t being chipped away at the rate hospitals would like them to be. This is going to be a long hard slog, and the NHS are going to need every bit of support it can gain during this time. The recently departed former-Health Secretary Matt Hancock recently said that the NHS is “facing the biggest pressure in its history” which he states is because the backlog is potentially twice as big as previously feared. The waiting list across the NHS is already at a staggering 5.1 million people awaiting elective surgery, but it is estimated that a further 7.1 million new additions to the waiting list could be on the way – people who have held off seeking medical attention during the pandemic are the reason for this estimated influx. Other areas of hospitals and GP surgeries aren’t escaping these large numbers either – it is reported than people are catching different bugs and viruses due to their lack of usual social interchanges and interaction with objects of the wider world. The immune system hasn’t maintained it’s normal levels of fight against the outside world, as we have all been living in bubbles, trapped indoors – now the world is starting to open up again and people are moving about more freely, interacting with others – they’re getting ill. 1.5 million surgeries were postponed or cancelled in 2020 and it is expected that another 2.4 million will be cancelled by the end of 2021. NHS officials believe it could take up to five years to clear the backlog: but are traditional winter pressures being accounted for? Do winter pressures in addition to rising variants, a huge backlog and heightened pressure on staff’s physical and mental wellbeing which will no doubt lead to illness and staff shortages mean that Winter 2021 is a ticking time bomb? The NHS has recruited an extra 5,600 doctors and 10,800 nurses since the beginning of the pandemic to try and cope with the extra demand. The Government has also pledged £7 billion in further funding – but is it enough if we have a bad winter, flu season takes hold, Covid cases rise once again and the NHS struggle to cope? Is the £7 billion going to be spent across the NHS, or just where it can be seen? These extra doctors and nurses have been invested in, but Global View have seen first-hand how underinvestment in areas which are key, but not considered key due to their manual nature can be underappreciated – it’s great having the extra doctors and nurses to try and cover the abundance of patients coming through the doors, but they’re of no use if the patients don’t make it to them – they can only treat what is in front of them. We’ve seen the heightened appreciation of the work the Estates & Facilities teams do, during the last year. Patients need to be transported in a timely manner to ensure that even during a backlog, things are running smoothly and on schedule to the rescheduled plan. We hope for the sake of the NHS that non-clinical services are being considered in the role they play in helping to beat the backlog when funding is being allocated – even the most vital cogs only work how they’re supposed to when all cogs are working and functioning properly too, and come winter time, all cogs need to have seen help where needed. ----

Working in partnership with portering teams to improve efficiency in the portering service, to support clinical teams, increase throughput and improve patient outcomes. Contact us at: myporter@globalviewsystems.co.uk Together we can #BeatTheBacklog

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