Celebrating Success at HDFT!

A Tea Party was held on Monday 24 July to celebrate and present Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust’s Celebrating Success and Long Service Awards.

Herriot’s Restaurant at Harrogate District Hospital was transformed into a vintage tea shop and a traditional afternoon tea was served to approximately 80 people, many of whom commented on how enjoyable the afternoon was.

The Celebrating Awards were presented by ‘The Dragons’, who had judged all the award entries, and the Long Service Awards were presented by Ros Tolcher, Trust Chief Executive, and Sandra Dodson, Chairman.

The winners were:

Chairman’s Award – Growing Healthy Bus
This project stood out above all others. It was such an innovative idea to bring a whole host of health messages into one place and make it fun and engaging for young people.

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Mark Kennedy Award for Enhancing Patient Experience – A Team Approach to Reducing Paediatric General Anesthetic Exodontia Waiting Lists 
The team ran a short term program of Saturday surgery lists to bring down waiting lists for Paediatric exodontia cases. The feedback from staff, patients and parents was very positive. The judges remarked on the transferability of the lessons learnt by the short term Saturday lists, to improve ‘business as usual’ work.

Governors’ Award for Outstanding Contribution from a Team – The Haematology and Oncology Medical Secretaries
The judges were very impressed by the team spirit of the Haematology and Oncology Medical Secretaries during a very challenging time. It is clear that the team is acutely aware that the work of medical secretaries in this team, and throughout the Trust, play a vital part in providing the very best quality care for each and every patient.

Richard Ord Award for Outstanding Contribution from an Individual – Anne Evans, Elmwood and Medical Outpatients Co-ordinator
Ann clearly demonstrates resilience and professionalism in all areas of her role.  In particular, this was demonstrated when Ann, a non-clinical member of staff, identified the urgency of a patient’s situation and acted appropriately to prevent a patient having a stroke.  As stated in her award nomination ‘We are lucky to have her!’ 

Chris Skeels Award for Living the Trust Values – Sister Adele Dungey
The judges felt that Sister Adele has a clear connection to her patients and their families. She demonstrates an exceptional level of care and commitment and is commended for her ongoing contribution to the success of Byland Ward and the wider Trust.

Anne Lawson Award Outstanding Contribution to High Quality Care – Medicines safety improvements
This award acknowledges the achievements of a wide team of HDFT staff including the pharmacy, doctors and nurses. There has been a reduction in prescribing errors, missed doses and insulin incidences, amongst others, which is down to the dedication and hard work of all those involved.

Outstanding Partnership Working – North Yorkshire Multi Agency Screening Team
This award recognises a really positive partnership between North Yorkshire Police, North Yorkshire County Council and our Trust. The partnership team is working to share intelligence and provide early interventions which put children and young people at the centre of decision making.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has today been awarded the Soil Association Food for Life Catering Mark Bronze, recognising its push for fresh meals and good food at Harrogate District Hospital, encompassing Herriot’s Restaurant serving outpatients, visitors and staff, and the inpatient meals service.

Providing over 1,500 daily meals to patient, visitors and staff, the team at the hospital worked closely with the Soil Association to achieve the award.

Richard Watts from Soil Association Certification said: “The Catering Mark is the result of lots of dedicated effort by the team at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust. Achieving this endorsement is an exceptional achievement in the healthcare sector and a demonstration of the hospital’s dedication to serving fresh, ethical, sustainable food that meets nutritional guidelines. Healthy places must be serving food that is good for the environment and good for us.”

Anyone visiting the hospital restaurant or eating inpatient meals will now be assured of healthy, sustainable food, produced by fully-trained staff on-site with fresh ingredients. Local people now know that all the meat achieves UK animal welfare standards, dishes contain only free-range eggs, no undesirable additives or trans-fats; and visitors can easily be told where their food comes from, with much of it being sourced locally from the Yorkshire region Using NHS accredited suppliers.

In addition the Hospital has enhanced its salad bar using seasonal products with daily healthy options provided through patient and restaurant menus. Catering staff have received training.

Sandra Dodson, Chairman of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This award is testament to the hard work and dedication of Stan and the whole Catering Team. I am very proud of their achievement. It means that patients, visitors and staff can have confidence that our meals are made with high quality ingredients.”

The changes at the Hospital have been led by Catering Manager Stan Ash. He said: “The Catering Mark recognises the effort our catering team has made to provide patients and visitors with access to tasty and nutritious food. It helps us understand much more about where our food is sourced from and we are proud to share that with people who eat with us. We have increased the amount of locally-sourced food on offer across all the meals we serve and that is going down well with visitors and staff alike.”

The Catering Mark is recognised by the Department of Health as a tool, which can support hospitals and their caterers to make improvements to the quality of food served to patients, staff and visitors. Over 1.5 million high-quality Catering Mark meals are being served each work day in schools, universities, nurseries, workplaces, hospitals, care homes and restaurants across the UK. Caterers working with the Food for Life Catering Mark are transforming food service by providing more fresh,  well sourced and environmentally sustainable quality British meals.