Awards: Finalists & Regional Winners Announced For Our Health Heroes
By Engage, , , , , , ,

Healthcare Workers who provide excellent patient care across the UK have been announced as finalists and regional winners for the Skills for Health’s Our Health Heroes Awards 2017, sponsored by Health Education England.

The Our Health Heroes Awards, established in 2016 aim to celebrate the unsung healthcare heroes from across the UK, including those working in the NHS, that go above and beyond in their roles every day. After a successful debut, the Awards expanded to include three new categories.

Healthcare Professionals were asked to nominate their Integrated Team of the Year, Workforce Planning Team of the Year and Apprentice of the Year, alongside the already established Clinical and Operational Services Support Worker of the Year awards.

After 930 nominations, a total of 33 finalists and regional winners have been revealed across the five categories. Regional winners for Clinical Support Worker of the Year and Operational Services Support Worker of the Year award go forward to a public vote along with three finalists for Apprentice of the Year.

The public vote will determine two national winners for Support Worker of the Year and the gold, silver and bronze placement of the Apprentices. All 33 health heroes are invited to the Awards ceremony in November, with the national support worker and apprentice winners being revealed and celebrated on the day.

John Rogers, Chief Executive at Skills for Health, said: “Once again, we are delighted to host the Our Health Heroes Awards, with additional award categories and key sponsors.”

“These 33 winners are outstanding in their field and are thoroughly deserving of their places in the shortlist. The calibre of nominations we received this year was sky high. Each and every one demonstrated excellence in patient care and our judges had a really difficult task in selecting a shortlist from such high-quality submissions.”

“We’re very much looking forward to meeting all the finalists in November and finding out the national support worker and apprentice winners”

The Awards ceremony is being hosted by Birds of a Feather actress and regular Loose Women panellist, Linda Robson. She said: ““I am absolutely delighted to be hosting the Our Health Heroes Awards this year. Healthcare workers are the beating heart of our country and I think it’s only right we celebrate them, especially the ones that are working tirelessly behind the scenes and sometimes get overlooked.

“I get the fantastic honour of revealing the national winners but I’m very much looking forward to meeting all of the regional winners and finalists next month.”

The panel of judges included representatives from Skills for Health and the National Skills Academy for Health as well as headline sponsors Health Education England, media partner National Health Executive and category sponsors NHS England, NHS Improvement, UNISON and The Open University.

Laura Roberts, Regional Director – North, Health Education England, said: “All the entries we read were fantastic and it was incredibly difficult to narrow it down. Every single person that received a nomination should feel very proud of themselves, the UK really is full of Health Heroes!”

The public vote for national winners of Operational Services Support Worker of the Year, Clinical Support Worker of the Year and to place the Apprentices of the Year will be open until Monday 6 November. Go to http://www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/ohh-2017 to vote now.

Our Health Heroes 2017 finalists and regional winners

Clinical Support Worker of the Year regional winners – sponsored by UNISON

  • Eastern: Chris Hamilton, Healthcare Assistant, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kings Lynn
  • East Midlands: Steph Buswell, Social Worker, Isebrook Hospital, Wellingborough
  • Greater London: Parinda Varra, Support Worker, Croydon Recovery & Rehabilitation Team
  • Northern: Cheryl Young, Deaf Clinical Support Assistant, Walkergate Park, Newcastle
  • Northern Ireland: Seamus Begley, Exercise Lead, Western Health and Social Care Trust
  • North West: Donna Bostock, CERT Engagement Worker, Salford
  • Scotland: Yvonne Welch, Healthcare Assistant, Arran War Memorial Hospital
  • South East: Gerri Fox, Senior Rehabilitation Assistant, St Nicholas Hospice, Suffolk
  • South West: Steve Dearsley, Community Support Services Supervisor, Headway Devon
  • Wales: John Clifford, Physiotherapy Technical Instructor, Neath Port Talbot Hospital
  • West Midlands: Ryan Lillie, Community Support Worker, St. Michaels Hospital, Warwick
  • Yorkshire and Humber: Helen Roberts, Therapy Support Worker, Lynfield Mount Hospital

Operational Services Support Worker of the Year regional winners – sponsored by UNISON

  • Eastern: Gwenda Porter-Harris, Assistant Telecoms Manager, Bedford Hospital
  • East Midlands: Julie Skeemer, Domestic Assistant, Leicester Royal Infirmary
  • Greater London: Anthea Lee Allen, Team Secretary, South London and Maudsley Hospital
  • Northern: Keith Arries, Maintenance Person, The Grange Nursing Home, Northumberland
  • Northern Ireland: Matthew Glasgow, General Secretary, Warren Children’s Centre, Lisburn
  • North West: Melanie Ince, EMIS Systems Manager, North Manchester General Hospital
  • Scotland: Marie McIver, Medical Secretary, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow
  • South East: Danii Clark, Equality & Human Rights Assistant, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
  • South West: Jackie Pearson, Reception Supervisor, Adelaide Medical Centre, Hampshire
  • Wales: Leanne Mathers, Placement Co-ordinator, Beechwood College, Penarth
  • West Midlands: Jess Toon, Activities Co-ordinator, Richmond Bede Village, Coventry 
  • Yorkshire and Humber: Paul Tobin, General Porter, St. James Hospital, Leeds

Apprentice of the Year finalists – sponsored by The Open University

  • Aaron Myall, Apprentice Healthcare Assistant in Sexual Health, Homerton Hospital, London
  • Andrew Gunn, Apprentice Business Support Executive in Marketing, The Edinburgh Clinic
  • Omprakash Beniwal, Apprentice Healthcare Assistant in Chemotherapy, Barnet Hospital, London

Workforce Planning Team of the Year finalists – sponsored by NHS England

  • GP Team, Carlisle
  • The Practice Education Team, Royal Bournemouth Hospital
  • Doctors Assistants Team, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

Integrated Team of the Year winners– sponsored by NHS Improvement

  • Prison Healthcare Team, South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust