Thirteen nominees make up the final shortlist for this year’s Kate Granger Compassionate Care Awards.

The finalists were selected from more than 100 entrants in the four award categories.

Now in their fourth year the awards were set up by Kate Granger, the terminally ill doctor who worked tirelessly to raise awareness around compassion in the NHS through her #hellomynameis social media campaign.

A panel that included Kate’s close friend and colleague Dr Natalie Silvey, Kate’s husband Chris Pointon, Professor Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer for England and others chose the finalists for this year’s awards.

Chris Pointon will help present the awards at the Health and Care Innovation Expo being staged at Manchester Central on 5 September as part of the NHS England Annual General Meeting at 4.15pm.

He said: “There have been some fantastic entrants and we have again faced the difficult task of deciding the shortlist. Kate was very proud of her legacy and of how the awards have been embraced by the wonderful NHS staff. The nominees are exceptional and will highlight the dedication and commitment of everyday people who work in the NHS.”

Before her death at the age of 34, Kate said she hoped the awards would continue and grow into an even bigger event, saying: “Being a patient has taught me a huge amount about being a doctor. Prioritising compassionate care in its rightful place alongside patient safety, under the umbrella of quality is perhaps one of the most important things I have learned.”

The shortlist is made up of two nominees in each of the three award categories.

The first award is for an individual working in the NHS or delivering NHS funded services. The others are for teams or organisations who are part of the NHS, or who deliver NHS funded services. These services can be delivered in hospitals, or in a primary care, community or residential setting.

The shortlist includes an individual award nomination for a nurse who has implemented an innovative and scalable approach to delivering coordinated, person-centred care in emergency situations, where a person is unable to make or express choices. Finalists also include a nurse consultant in palliative care who has introduced the Family’s Voice Diary that puts the patient, their family and loved ones at the centre of planning and care, when they are approaching the end of their life.

Organisation award nominees include a High Intensity User programme, that helps some of the most vulnerable and lonely people in our society to flourish, while achieving sustainable reductions in A&E attendances, 999 calls, and non-elective admissions.

Nominees in the team award include the End of Life Companion Volunteer Service who support patients at the end of life, especially when they do not have visitors, in the belief that no one should die alone.

To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the NHS, this year will also see the inclusion of a special award for each of the past seven decades that will be awarded to nominated individuals who have made a significant contribution to the delivery of compassionate care within one or more of the past seven decades. Details of these nominations and their work will be announced at Expo on 5 September.

Those shortlisted have all demonstrated how they have made a fantastic difference to patient care and, in particular, shown evidence of:

• an ambitious and innovative way of delivering care
• high-quality management and leadership
• an approach that can be easily measured and have a real impact
• how the approach has made a difference to patient care
• how it makes a difference in the long term
• how easily it can be replicated in other organisations

It was while undergoing treatment for cancer that Kate started writing about seeing the NHS “through the eyes of a patient”. She launched the #hellomynameis campaign to talk about some of her intensely moving experiences. The campaign reminds health care professionals of the importance of introducing themselves to patients and how a relatively ‘little thing’ can positively affect a patient’s experience of the treatment and care they receive.

Professor Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer for England said: “The work of Kate Granger will always remain close to my heart and once again, it has been extremely difficult to choose this year’s finalists.

“Each and every nomination outlined how individuals, teams and organisations are delivering expert care, skill and compassion in everything they do and I am particularly pleased to see the 6Cs remaining at the heart of the work of nursing, midwifery and care staff, as well as those from other professions working across and beyond the NHS.”

For updates on Twitter follow #hellomynameis and #KGAwards18

Shortlisted nominees are

Individual Award

Mel McEvoy

Nominated by: John Sheridan

Mel McEvoy, Nurse Consultant in Palliative Care, was nominated for being forward thinking and innovative in the delivery of palliative and end of life care for patients. Putting the patient and family at the centre of planning and care, he introduced the Family’s Voice Diary at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust which is now used in several other NHS organisations.

Feedback and published research relating to the Family’s Voice Diary shows this work has made a huge difference to patient care empowering families and loved ones to contribute to end of life care and engage with health professionals through the Family’s Voice Diary.  Improved communication channels between health professionals, patients and their loved ones has enabled earlier intervention by specialist teams and greater planning for the provision of care.

Catherine Baldock

Nominated by: Federico Moscogiuri

Catherine was the first person in the UK to embrace and implement ReSPECT – a new, patient centred approach to making recommendations about emergency care and treatment.  Catherine led the implementation of ReSPECT at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust in December 2016.  She is now clinical lead for the implementation of this approach across the NHS.

ReSPECT is an extremely innovative approach to delivering coordinated, person-centred care in emergency situations, where a person is unable to make or express choices. ReSPECT was designed to address the many problems around the use of do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions and places the patient at the centre of decision making. The ReSPECT process is fully applicable and scalable across all care settings in all of the four national NHS systems, and is fully compatible with Advance Care Plans. It provides a single national standard for recording patient preferences and removes unwarranted variation.

Team Award

Acute Stroke Unit at City Hospitals Sunderland

Nominated by: Fiona Carney

Supporting stroke patients experiencing difficulties in communication can be difficult for both families and health professionals alike and many stroke survivor patients with communication problems say that they sometimes feel invisible. The stroke team showed dedication, care and commitment in developing an ‘all about me’ booklet that brought to life the use of whiteboards.

The patient (if able) and family help the nursing team to get to know the patient on a personal level by helping to populate the whiteboard. Families are encouraged to bring in photographs or draw pictures so that the whole nursing team can use the information to help engage with their loved ones and enable conversations. The initial pilot evaluated well with overwhelming positive feedback from patients and families. Nursing staff use the visual whiteboard as a communication tool, especially if the patient becomes anxious or restless.

This is an excellent example of how, by listening and learning from feedback provided by patients,  their family and friends and staff involved in their care, continuous improvement can be achieved.

End of Life Companion volunteers

Nominated by: Jacky Taylor

The End of Life Companion volunteer service is for patients who are in their last days of life and is non-judgemental, inclusive and compassionate, acts with integrity, sensitivity and understanding.

The Companions are there to support the patients especially if they have no visitors, as they believe that no one should die alone. Companions can also be there to support families and loved ones at this most difficult time, offering a listening ear, access to information such as free parking, somewhere to shower etc. They also support the busy ward staff, alerting them if the patient begins to show signs of discomfort, promoting the timely administration of medication to maximise comfort.

The Volunteer Services Coordinator ensures that the Companion is contacted usually be telephone after each visit for debrief to see how the visit went and ensure that the Companion is supported.

Comments from families regarding the service have included:  “A huge weight off my mind to know someone is there when I can’t be.”

“Really helpful to have someone there to talk to.”

“Thank you so much for your kindness to mum and sitting with her in our absence.”

A staff member said:  “I Just wanted  to say how lovely they all are volunteering to sit with patients who are alone and particularly when patients are nearing end of life and need someone to be with them for comfort and reassurance. Thank you all! You do a fantastic job!”

Organisation Award

NHS RightCare’s High Intensity User Programme:

Nominated by: Rhian Monteith

NHS RightCare’s High Intensity User (HIU) programme, now running in 37 Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), is helping some of the most vulnerable and lonely people in society to flourish, whilst saving NHS resources through sustainable reductions in A&E attendances, 999 calls, and non-elective admissions.

The HIU programme began in Blackpool, based on an idea from an advanced paramedic who saw first-hand, the effect that individuals utilising urgent health care more than expected was having on those people and the services responding to them.

From this seed, a national programme developed and is spreading at pace and scale. By offering an inclusive, empathetic and listening approach, hospitals following the principles of the HIU programme see a reduction in A&E attendances and non-elective admissions of between 50 and 85 percent. Feedback shows this approach has a positive impact on people’s lives, including a reduction in self- harm, improved self-esteem and increased self-worth.

One client said “I have seen around fifty professionals over the past two years including social workers, psychiatrists, nurses, occupational therapists and psychologists. My HIU worker is the first person to fully understand my needs.”

Macmillan Caring Locally Volunteer Team

Nominated by: Anita Rigler

In 2010 the Macmillan charity invested in a review of volunteer support for the Macmillan Unit at Christchurch Hospital. This work resulted in the development of several new volunteer roles and a complete review of training and support for volunteers. Volunteer team leaders who manage their own teams of volunteers where then established.

The results have been remarkable and by 2017 a significant increase in the number of volunteer roles had been achieved with a 300% increase in volunteers at the unit, contributing more than 21,000 hours.

Their volunteer training programme has received awards. Highly skilled volunteers work together through a team leader to create a peer led supervision process too, so as to provide a high level of support for those supporting patients at end of life.

Some examples of support provided are: Supporting the blind wife of a deceased patient to help arrange his funeral; turning out late at night to bring in a patient’s wife as her husband deteriorates; and after a young patient expressed sorrow at never being able to see a Christmas tree again, volunteers produced a fully adorned Christmas tree outside her room within half an hour.