Outstanding NHS staff shortlisted for annual Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals awards

Dedicated nurses, doctors, medical teams and supporting colleagues that have gone the extra mile to provide exceptional care for their patients are among those set to be honoured at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals’ annual staff awards.

The WHH Thank You Awards acknowledge teams and individuals for their inspiring innovations, incredible achievements and significant contributions to healthcare over the past 12 months. 

This year a record-breaking 300 nominations were received from staff and members of the public across 11 categories – and the finalists have now been revealed. 

Accolades to be presented at the event in May include Colleague of the Year, Rising Star, Innovation and Improvement, as well as several team awards recognising the achievements of departments across the Trust. 

Amongst the finalists are Samantha Durcan, nominated for the life-changing and personalised support she gives to patients living with a terminal illness, Babu Dharmarajan who has been praised for his commitment to supporting the development of nursing education and skills, and the Gynaecology Super Clinic Team for their work to transform care and reduce waiting lists.

A number of special trophies will also be presented on the night, including an Outstanding Achievement Award selected by Chief Executive Nikhil Khashu, and the People’s Choice Award, which members of the public were invited to submit nominations for. More than 80 entries were received praising the health heroes that have made a positive difference to their experience at Warrington and Halton hospitals over the past year.

The finalists for the Thank You Awards 2024-25 are:

Planned Care Team of the Year
1.    Birth Suite Team
2.    Gynaecology Team 
3.    Team River (Enhanced Midwifery Care Team) 
 
Unplanned Care Team of the Year
1.    Forget Me Not Unit (Ward B12)
2.    Transfer of Care Hub 
3.    Ward A8, General Medicine
 
Clinical Support Services Team of the Year
1.    Musculoskeletal Clinical Assessment and Triage Service 
2.    Outpatients Booking Teams 
3.    Outpatient Neurological Rehabilitation Team
 
Corporate Services Team of the Year
1.    Communications and Engagement Team
2.    Culture, Inclusion and Engagement Team
3.    Procurement Team
 
Living Our Values Award: Colleague of the Year (Clinical)
1.    Kaley Whelan, Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner 
2.    Dr Lesley Moore, Specialty Doctor 
3.    Mark Fitzpatrick, Theatre Practitioner 
 
Living Our Values Award: Colleague of the Year (Non-Clinical)
1.    Janet Parker, Deputy Director of Finance
2.    Samantha Durcan, Medical Secretary 
3.    Paula Butterworth, Assistant CBU manager 
 
Innovation and Improvement Award
1.    Gynaecology Super Clinic Team
2.    Virtual Wards Pharmacy Team
3.    Paediatric Diabetes Team
 
Culture and Inclusion Award
1.    Clare Fairhurst, Clinical Team Manager 
2.    Organisation Development Team 
3.    Digital Analytics Team
 
Rising Star Award
1.    Babu Dharmarajan, Clinical Educator 
2.    Erin Tighe, Financial Accounts Assistant 
3.    Pam Aldred, Midwife
 
Leadership Award
1.    Kate Davidson, Medical Education Manager 
2.    Lydia Davies, Lead Radiographer 
3.    Nancy Harrington, Speech and Language Manager 
 
You Made A Difference Award
1.    Felicity Lewis, Specialist Physiotherapist, Rapid Response Team
2.    Sandra Millington, Sister, Early Pregnancy Unit
3.    Wards A3 (Acute Cardiac Care Unit) and B18 (Respiratory Care) 
 
People’s Choice Award
1.    Jonathan Cliffe, Midwifery Team Leader, Team River
2.    Louise Foley, Specialist Nurse, Colorectal Team
3.    Sue Jones, Specialist Nurse, Children’s Epilepsy Team

Nikhil Khashu, Chief Executive of Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Our Thank You Awards honour the hard-working individuals and teams across the Trust who continue to make a real difference to the lives of our patients. I am so proud to see the dedication and commitment to delivering outstanding patient care and experience shine through our award nominations. 

“As always the judges had an incredibly difficult task in selecting our finalists, which is testament to the extraordinary impact our staff make day in day out. A big congratulations to all our finalists, and thank you to those who took the time to submit a nomination – we genuinely loved reading each one and will ensure your messages of support are passed on to our teams.”

The winners of each category will be announced at the awards ceremony on Friday 16 May at the Titanic Hotel in Liverpool, and every finalist will receive a highly commended award for being shortlisted.

The celebration event is funded through the support of local businesses and corporate partners, and the Trust would like to hear from companies that may be interested in supporting the event as a sponsor. For further enquiries email whh.thankyouawards@nhs.net or call 01925 662993.