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Celebrating 70 years of compassionate care

The Chief Nursing Officer for England calls for entries for this year’s Kate Granger Compassionate Care Awards:

I recently spoke at the Queen’s Nursing Institute Annual conference about the importance of primary care and community nurses and their vital role in shaping and developing the health and care system of the future.

One of the areas I touched on was the importance of highly skilled compassionate care for patients, those we care for, their families and friends.

Today, I am privileged to launch this year’s Kate Granger Compassionate Care Awards alongside Chris Pointon, co-founder of the #hellomynameis campaign and husband of the late Dr Kate Granger MBE.

Before her death in 2016, Kate worked tirelessly to raise awareness around compassion in the NHS through the #hellomynameis social media campaign. On one occasion when Kate was admitted to hospital, she observed that those caring for her and others were not introducing themselves, so she and Chris decided to do something about it.  The #hellomynameis campaign was born.

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.

As well as a global following from people in more than 20 countries, the campaign is backed by a significant number of health trusts and communities across England and beyond.  Chris now spends most of his time travelling around this the country and, indeed, the world talking about it.

As this year represents the 70th anniversary since the NHS was launched, I am delighted to announce a fourth category this year to reflect on the amazing achievements of staff over the last 70 years.

This year, the award categories are:

  • For an individual working in the NHS or delivering NHS funded services
  • For teams who are part of the NHS or who deliver NHS funded services
  • For whole organisations that are part of the NHS or deliver NHS funded services
  • And finally, a certificate of recognition for seven individuals across seven decades of the NHS who have worked tirelessly and innovatively to provide compassionate care for our patients and those we care for.

And it’s important to note that nominations are welcome from hospital, primary care, community or residential settings.

The closing date for entries is Friday 15 June 2018 and judges will be looking for an individual, team or organisation that has made a unique difference to patient care, as well as a total of seven additional individuals who have provided exceptional care in one of each decade from 1948 to 2018.

We will be looking in particular for:

  • an ambitious and innovative way of delivering patient care
  • high-quality leadership and management
  • 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

For the 70 Years’ of Compassionate Care Awards, the 6Cs with be used as the judging criteria: care, compassion, competence, communication, courage and commitment.

Last year’s winners were from a variety of organisations, settings and roles.

Jean McVann, a General Practice Nurse at The Gate surgery in Rotherham won the individual award and is known by all her colleagues for her work to support some of the most vulnerable people in society. Jean has set up a service helping the homeless by providing healthcare on the streets for those in need.

Jean said: “I was honoured to win the Kate Granger award. It was really meaningful for me as I had followed Kate’s journey from the start. The four little words ‘hello my name is’ mean so much for the NHS and I was so privileged to be at the ceremony.”

The team award last year went to Palliative Care, Northumbria for their exceptional support of patients and their families when choosing where they want to receive end of life care. They work alongside patients to determine whether a home, hospital or hospice setting can be accommodated and provide both clinical and emotional support at such a sensitive time for them and their loved ones.

Commenting on their award, a spokesperson for the team said: “We were delighted and very proud to have won the team award which recognises everyone’s hard work and dedication in providing compassionate care.”

The Organisation Award went to South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust for their work helping people to overcome health issues. Their projects included the Kirklees police liaison scheme that involves mental health nurses working alongside officers at Halifax and Huddersfield police stations to recognise the signs of mental illness.

A spokesperson from the Trust said: “It was absolutely fantastic to receive this award and is very special for us. There has been lots of interest in our work and it’s great to see our work recognised. We are a really valued-based organisation and winning this particular award in Kate Granger’s name means a lot to us – it really plays to our values.”

Chris Pointon said: “The Kate Granger Awards for Compassionate Care continue to be a real chance for organisations, teams and individuals to shine and fly the flag for the work they do to improve outcomes for patients and service users.

“I’m looking forward to reviewing this year’s entries, along with the judging panel and I am proud to say that Kate would have been so pleased to see her work and our campaign to highlight the importance of compassionate care growing across England, the UK and beyond.

“She would have been immensely proud to see the creation of a fourth category this year in recognition of the last seven decades of the NHS, highlighting the importance of compassionate care from 1948 to the present day. This is your chance to nominate an individual, a team or an organisation to recognise and celebrate the work they do.”

So, I encourage you all to read more about this year’s awards and complete the short nomination form to showcase some fantastic examples for this year’s awards, but also celebrating compassionate care over the last seven decades.

Thank you for everything that you do.

Jane Cummings

Professor Jane Cummings is the Chief Nursing Officer for England and Executive Director at NHS England.

Jane specialised in emergency care and has held a wide variety of roles across the NHS including Director of Commissioning, Director of Nursing and Deputy Chief Executive.

In February 2004, she became the national lead for emergency care agreeing and implementing the 98% operational standard. She has also worked as the nursing advisor for emergency care. In January 2005, she was appointed as the National Implementation Director for ‘Choice’ and ‘Choose and Book’.

Jane moved to NHS North West in November 2007 where she held executive responsibility for the professional leadership of nursing, quality, performance as well as QIPP, commissioning and for a time Deputy Chief Executive Officer. In October 2011, she was appointed to the role of Chief Nurse for the North of England SHA Cluster.

She was appointed as Chief Nursing Officer for England in March 2012 and started full time in June 2012. Jane is the professional lead for all nurses and midwives in England (with the exception of public health) and published the ‘6Cs’ and ‘Compassion in Practice’ in December 2012, followed by publishing the ‘Leading Change, Adding Value’ framework in May 2016.

Jane has executive oversight of maternity, patient experience, learning disability and, in January 2016, became executive lead for Patient and Public Participation.

She was awarded Doctorates by Edge Hill University and by Bucks New University, and she is a visiting professor at Kingston University and St George’s University, London.

She is also Director and trustee for Macmillan Cancer Support and a clinical Ambassador for the Over the Wall Children’s Charity where she volunteers as a nurse providing care for children affected by serious illnesses.

Follow Jane on Twitter: @JaneMCummings.

Chris Pointon

Chris Pointon is the widower of the inspiring Dr Kate Granger MBE and Co-founder of the #hellomynameis campaign of which he remains the Global Campaign Ambassador

‘Play the cards in life you’ve been dealt’ were words that Kate and I lived by and we certainly lived life to the full every day, even before her terminal cancer diagnosis.

Our lives were turned upside down around 6 and a half years ago when Kate was diagnosed with terminal cancer whilst we were holidaying in California.

From that point we crammed a huge amount into Kate’s time on this planet. Along the way we raised over £340,000 for good causes, travelled the world, met many celebrities and royalty and started a global campaign that improves patient care through the basic message of introductions entitled #hellomynameis. Kate’s legacy is huge and her name will live on forever through her legacy and various awards named in her honour.

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