Shortlist 2025

Cancer Nurse Specialists - Urology

This relatively small team goes the extra mile for patients. This includes listening to feedback and acting on areas of improvement. They have piloted extra clinics at weekends to promote accessibility, become ambassadors for ‘Move Against Cancer’ encouraging exercise to improve physical and mental health and support fundraising to raise vital funds for the department.

Dawn Townsley, Specialist Palliative Care Nurse

Dawn promotes a good work-life balance and cheers the team up with her fantastic sense of humour. She is always on hand to support colleagues and regular fundraises for charity. Dawn is described as an ‘inspiration who touches everyone’s lives’. 

Patricia Jenkins, Clerical Officer

Trish was nominated for her exceptional levels of kindness and compassion. She recently helped to save the life of a patient who had a cardiac arrest when attending his appointment. Despite not being clinical, Trish stepped in and was recognised by the patient’s family for her efforts.

Reynaldo Hernandez, Staff Nurse

Rey is one of our international nurses working on E56. He has in depth knowledge around dementia and delirium and has been recognised by our end of life facilitators for his outstanding care and compassion for patients at end of life. He is described as ‘a little Rey of sunshine’.  

Shelley Campbell, Healthcare Assistant

Shelley supports the team on E56 as a healthcare assistant. She takes times to make patients feel heard and finds out about their life to support a patient centred approach to care. She is described as very genuine and relatable in her approach.

Care Homes Dietetic Team

The team covers all older persons care homes across South Tyneside and Sunderland. They are described as delivering ‘a gold standard service supporting exceptional care within older person's care homes from a nutrition & hydration perspective’. The team has moved from a 12 week waiting time to leading the way for other dietetic services in the region and the rest of the country.

Gateshead Equipment Services Team

The team is described as ‘an exceptional group of people who deal with difficult situations on a daily basis with a smile; good humour and empathy’. Delivering over 1000 pieces of equipment per month and retrieving and refurbishing around 800. The service runs 24/7 and is underpinned by teamwork, collaboration and resilience.

School Nursing Team

The team has experience significant change, but still provided a first class service to local children. They have looked at new ways of working including supporting public health through holiday clubs, sports clubs and family hubs. They’ve also embraced changes that give them more time to spend face to face with children and improved processes to make the service more efficient.

St Benedict's Inpatient Team

A high functioning team who give their all to support patients who need complex care, often at end of life. The support they give takes on many forms from complex symptom management to sourcing memory boxes or arranging a wedding at short notice. They are commended for their leadership, dedication and commitment to patients and eachother.

Talking Therapies

A team with exceptional and sustained performance who is consistently at the top of regional and national performance league tables. Committed to involving patients to improve care, the team actively seeks to engage with groups who are more likely to experience mental health issues, but also removing barriers so the service is accessible to all.

Brooke Johnson, Discharge Liaison Officer

Described as enthusiastic, motivated and unafraid of a challenge, Brooke works closely with colleagues to make sure patients are discharged safely and promptly. 

Brooke often goes above and beyond what is expected of her. She has become an integrated part of the respiratory team and she been described as a god send by nursing and Consultant colleagues as well as being recognised by the wider medicine team for her efforts across escalation wards.

Jeanette Clark, Ward Clerk

Jeanette was nominated for exceptional professionalism and dedication to the running of the ward. She takes the time to answer families queries ensuring their concerns are addressed. She exemplifies what a ward clerk should be and more. 

Karen Thornton, Admin Assistant

Karen is described as very compassionate and kind, displaying great initiative. She has been instrumental in transforming the Parkinson’s nurse service, creating the Get It On Time packs which ensures patients get their medicines on time and also providing families and carers with relevant information and support.

Susan Paul, Medical Secretary

Susan has worked for the Trust for 25 years.  She helps support patients on long term follow up for complex head and neck issues, including cancer.  She offers support to bereaved families in their time of need. Susan does all this out of a huge generosity of heart. She is passionate about providing a first-class service to patients and colleagues.

Infection, Prevention and Control Team

The team has played a pivotal role in supporting wards to overcome challenges and mitigate the clinical risk to our patients. There were a number of c difficile cases over a 3 month period, their daily presence on the ward, providing advice and guidance was second to none. The IPC team developed training packages to roll out across the ward team which included Drs, therapists and volunteers, they also supported at visiting times with a chaperone service, this ensure all visitors who entered the ward were washing their hands.

Neonatal Team

The team’s focus on babies and families in their care is exceptional. The team has undertaken several quality improvement initiatives that are focused on enhancing care and experience and have involved families to co-produce the projects or to implement changes. They are described as a truly outstanding team.  

SEI Main Theatres Team

The staff are well experienced with knowledge and skills to help the department run smoothly. The team routinely provide support to the Cataract Treatment Centre, Macula Unit and A+E, helping to reduce patient waiting times. They are a close team who look forward to going to work.

Targeted Lung Health Check Team

A small team in comparison to other services within our trust, but when it comes to hard work motivation and dedication, they are described as inspirational. In the past two years they have invited over 66,000 participants, carrying out 1200 lung health checks every month. Because of this, many more patients have had an early Lung Cancer diagnosis.

Ward 5

Ward 5 exemplifies the power of teamwork. Each member of the team brings unique expertise and enthusiasm, working together harmoniously to achieve exceptional clinical outcomes. The team’s ability to adapt and apply new strategies to patient care has led to measurable improvements, reflecting their dedication to excellence.

Kimberley Novis, Clinical Scientist, Audiology

Kimberley has always been passionate about incorporating research into her clinical role even going as far as self-funding a Doctorate at the University of Sunderland which she is completing in her own time.  She also ensures other team members have the opportunity to get involved and develop their research skills.

Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research Team 

The team has worked hard to place research front and centre and is now the largest recruiting unit in Reproductive Health. They continue to provide consistent and important recruitment into a number of trials which significantly impact clinical practice. The drive to actively give patients the opportunity to get involved with clinical research was evident in the nomination.

SEI Research Team

SEI Research Team is committed to delivering high quality research with a high proportion of commercial studies. They have been at the forefront within gene therapy trials. SEI have a wide portfolio of studies that have changed the landscape of ophthalmic treatments and pathways.

Daniel Donkin, Assistant Domestic and Linen Manager

Dan’s greatest strength is his people management skills. He easily establishes mutual trust and respect with his colleagues. His knowledge and approachability inspire confidence and often make him the go-to manger for domestics and supervisors.

Eden Benson, Apprentice Training Administrator

Eden has been described as a whiz at organisation and confident in conversing with staff much more senior than herself. She has hugely contributed to the success of the Trust's new induction training. The nomination states ‘Eden's quality of work is really beyond reproach. If she was a stick of candy rock, I think she'd already have STSFT down the centre!’

Rachel Boyd, Clinical Educator

Over the past 12 months, Rachel has demonstrated remarkable dedication, leadership, and expertise, earning the respect and admiration of her colleagues and making a significant impact on both staff development and patient care. Rachel has mentored 11 staff nurses through the rigorous Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy (SACT) passport program. Her work has bolstered patient safety and improved the quality of care provided to oncology patients.

Rajee George, Staff Nurse

Rajee is a fantastic support to the team and described as having the kindest heart. She really sympathises with her patients, has so much compassion for her patients and has worked so hard to improve her knowledge and understanding that the students and staff love for her to be their mentor/assessor.

Oluwatoyin Omisore, Staff Nurse

Toyin has been described as a calm an organised member of the team who leads by example. She is approachable, giving staff and patients the confidence to work towards their goals. Her nature and her understanding of people’s needs is demonstrated by her desire to continually improve her skills. 'Toyin is a pleasure and brings out the best of people.'

Chris Brightman, Facilities Assistant

Chris has been described as ‘a whole load of job descriptions, rolled into one’. He's the storeman, groundsman, porter, odd job man, cleaner, snow shoveller, delivery man, surgical gas porter, the "Chris, can you just..........". He’s an invaluable member of the DTC, serving all departments, ensuring a high level of customer service is delivered.

Colleen McNicholas, HR Advisor

She is an exceptional HR Advisor who has provides outstanding support, not only for managers, but for all the many varied staff in the Division. She has been described as the cornerstone of the team, constantly going above and beyond, tackling even the most complex of situations. The trust that she instils is impressive and she truly embodies all of the qualities that this organisation values; compassion, professionalism and integrity, making her a role model for us all.

Danielle Sadler, Assistant Rostering Manager

Danielle has motivated and inspired her colleagues within her own working area by providing support and recognition. Danielle has also been the ‘go to’ person for many of our Directorate Managers and Divisional Directors, as a fountain of knowledge. Danielle embodies the trust values delivering services with compassion, respect, honesty and as a team.

Jim Charlton, Fire Safety and Security Manager

Jim has had various excellence reports relating to his care and compassion. He always gives 100% and is there for any colleague who needs advice, no matter what time of the day. Despite thinking it’s just part of the job, Jim goes above and beyond to make staff feel safe and supported.

Joanne Canning, Matron - Quality, Assurance and Improvement

Joanne was nominated as she is highly regarded by everyone around her, she puts the patient at the forefront of everything she does and acts as a positive role model for the nursing profession. She used a personal, highly emotive subject to educate her peers for the purposes of improving patient care.

Liam McManus, Divisional Finance Manager

Liam has worked tirelessly to find innovative financial solutions that benefit both the division and our staff & patients. His proactive approach to problem solving and his willingness to tackle challenges head on have been instrumental in driving the division’s financial stability.  Liam is kind, compassionate and understanding.

Alison Vagoni, Team Secretary

Alison has been described as the glue that keeps everything together. She is warm and welcoming to all staff, patients, and other visitors to the unit and works under a lot of pressure at times with many tasks to complete. She is also heavily involved in money raising for the unit with all raised funds going back into patient care. ‘Everyone needs an Alison.’ 

Dan Dobson, Community Specialist Health Improvement Practitioner

Dan is called ‘an absolute ray of sunshine to work with’ and does an amazing job supporting our services. He has received compliments from numerous sources and his enthusiasm and commitment shines in all of his work.   

Holly Gunn, Clinical Team Manager

Holly is currently taking the lead on changing patient care for the diabetic patients in the community. Using new Dexcom devices, Holly has managed to successfully promote better patient care, education and self-management so that patients can be more independent and live more fulfilled lives. Her compassion to be a nurse but also a leader is seen by all. Holly is a nurse that many of us inspire to be!! a role model to all staff!

Paul Windle, Domestic

Paul is always friendly happy and gives everyone in the team a boost. His work is exceptional and is always to the highest standard. He has such enthusiasm and commitment to the trust and always speak highly of how he enjoys working for the trust. Paul is always on hand to give advice or offer help to anyone who needs it and nothing seems to be a problem.

Sonya Bruce, Clinical Team Manager

Sonya has gone above and beyond her role as manager whilst supporting a member of staff with their illness, showing such kindness and empathy. Sonya has continuously provided support and exceptional care. ‘With Sonya’s support and kindness I have now returned to work and feel passionate about nursing again.’

Advice and Complaints Team

Each and every member of the team are caring, compassionate and dedicated to ensuring that each member of the public they deal with receives a compassionate response, demonstrating the very best of our organisation. Their response rates to complainants have remained at a consistently high performance level ensuring the public and our teams receive the most efficient high quality care, providing outstanding customer services.

Domestic Supervisors Team

The Domestic Services team has continued to perform successfully despite increased demand and understaffing. ‘The domestic supervisory team have been instrumental in the trialling of a number of alternative HPV machines to support the organisation to continue to ensure gold standard cleaning requirements are met and that patient safety is not compromised.’

Payroll and Pensions Team

They are a small team who provide the best service to our staff. They have a unique skill set with expertise in payroll/tax/ pensions. They know the importance of paying staff correctly and have an eye for detail and accuracy. They are a team that do not get recognised more widely for the contribution they make to how staff feel about working for this Trust, getting paid correctly on time is vital to us all.   

Safeguarding Team

The Safeguarding Team is caring, approachable and smiling supportive faces when staff are dealing with the very emotional, complex, highly sensitive and at times scary situations with patients and families where abuse and or harm has occurred. They are tenacious, a true advocate for the patients, staff and trust. Nothing will stop them in ensuring excellence in all that we do. Safeguarding is a statutory function but the team don't see themselves as this, they see themselves as true champions for safeguarding ensuring compassion, teamwork, honesty and respect is fulfilled at all times, no matter the circumstances, which at time are challenging and uncomfortable.

Team FY3

The team worked closely with operational colleagues to establish the number of gaps and doctors required and then, supported by the Medical Rostering Team and Recruitment Services Team, developed a joint action plan supporting the operational, clinical, selection, recruitment, and placement of successful candidates. This collaborative approach to Trust doctor recruitment has realised Trust savings estimated at £2m in 2024/2025. 

Assessment of Breathing Clinic Team

The Assessment of Breathing Clinic is a small but impactful team of hard working individuals all with a shared vision of making a difference to healthcare and the patients of our community through innovative ways of working. By working together directly with other services we have improved patient symptoms, disease control and seen more patients from deprived areas with the greatest outcomes. ‘We are an amazing, proactive, supportive, innovative team that deserve the recognition to strengthen and build on what we believe is the right way to deliver care in the future!’

Practice Placement Facilitators

The team introduced a device called 'Real Wear' support students on placements. This new technology was used in a number of areas, including ENT and maternity to great success and the feedback from students was excellent. The work has been showcased to Sunderland University and Regional Maternity PPF Forum. From the six STSFT Real-wear sessions, student hours were increased by a total of 1300 student hours, with 77 students attending.

Sexual Health Teams

The three Sexual Health Services have worked collaboratively with each other as well as the corporate teams and Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust to develop online sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening. Through the hard work and dedication from the SHS, corporate and Gateshead Pathology teams and the passion to do what is right for the patients, they have managed to get this up and running to improve patient care and experience.

Carina Dowson, Consultant and Clinical Director, Acute Medicine

Carina has a real passion for leadership and has used that to drive change within the department to improve not only our patient’s care but to instil belief in the team that we do make a difference. Carina has encouraged collaborative working, building relationships with the teams at both front and back of house who we work so closely with. She has continued to pursue change for the better of our patients and department and has the respect and backing of the whole Acute Medicine team.

Emma Gray, Lead Matron

Emma has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership within her role as Lead Matron for the Trust, driving improvements in performance and patient care. Emma’s personality and impeccable leadership fosters a culture of collaboration and inclusivity with colleagues. Emma somehow makes it look easy to empower and inspire colleagues at all levels to embrace change, grow professionally, and align with the organisation's goals, vision, and values. Emma’s leadership not only inspires individuals but also strengthens the collective impact of the organisation.   

Lynzee McShea, Head of Audiology

Lynzee's enthusiasm shines through, she has put in an extraordinary number of extra hours in the last year to turn the department around, often working late into the night such is her commitment to deliver the best service for our patients but also to make it a department where everyone is valued and respected and the place everyone wants to work.

Miles Weston, MRI and Lead Radiographer

Everyday Miles supports his team members to develop and hone their skill set, encouraging continual professional development and offering mentorship drawing from his vast experience. Miles' door is always open, he is approachable for a chat, whether it being about work or home life, not only as a manager but as a friend. Miles endeavours to remain up to date with new techniques, guidance and filters this through to his team proving he is a great leader.

Zoe Clapham, Clinical and Operational Lead for Endoscopy

Zoe has developed both herself and the service in a way that has directly impacted positively on our local population. Zoe has empowered the team to be the best that they can be. Redesigning the way that they work , scanning the horizon for best practice and always with kindness. Under the leadership of Zoe, the endoscopy team received the highest possible accolade with feedback from the National Lead Inspector that our endoscopy service is amongst the best in the country.

Ian Hewitson, Contracts and Procurement Manager

Ian is a passionate advocate of sustainability in his day-to-day work. He is working hard to ensure our Trusts Green Plan will reduce our impact on the environment and deliver more sustainable healthcare. Ian has also been instrumental in undertaking a review of the existing staff lease scheme as part of the green plan actions (of which there are currently 700 vehicles). 

Mark Williams, Consultant, Head and Neck

Mark has been the driver for a number of changes to promote a more sustainable practice in ENT. his passion to contribute to a more sustainable approach not only in ENT but also in the generality of surgery. He continues to promote the green agenda in surgery through engaging clinicians and allied professional staff to reflect on what they currently do and how they could change things for the better. Mark quietly produces work that makes a difference to the planet but also has financial benefits.

Paula Oakes and Joanne Donkin, Recycling of Ward Aids Team

Paula and Joanne are nominated due to their exceptional initiative in developing a framework for the re-use of walking aids at the Trust. This initiative aligns with Trust Green Plan, aiming to reduce waste and carbon emissions associated with the disposal of walking aids, which have a significant carbon footprint due to aluminum manufacturing.

Their work exemplifies the criteria for this award by demonstrating quality, enthusiasm, and a sustained commitment to the Trust goals.

Sexual Health Teams

The development of the online sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening allows service users to request STI screening online and have the screening pack delivered to their homes. This is a fantastic initiative which improves the sustainability of the Sexual Health Services in numerous ways including: makes the most out of technology to improve patient care and accessibility, improves value for money as this service was historically provided by a private provider and reduces the impact on the environment by reducing the need for patients to travel to attend clinic for STI screening.

Virtual Ward Team

The Virtual Ward Team supported by Recovery at Home has worked tirelessly to implement two key projects that have contributed to a sustainable future. To deliver these projects Matron Lisa Kempster, ACP Natalie Spark and Lauren Olivier and Pharmacist Daniel Harrison have been instrumental in starting from scratch and establishing processes, governance and presenting at multiple forums to ensure that the projects adhered to policy and had robust governance. The RAH team have been enthusiastic embracing train the trainer and going the extra mile during the implementation phase.

Lee Whitfield, Associate Divisional Director

Lee is a truly inclusive leader, he acts on recommendations, shares key information and promote all aspects of inclusion, listening effectively, understanding, and creating a sense of belonging for team members. Lee is well respected and lives and breathes the Trusts values of honesty, respect team work and compassion. He is a member of the Inclusion Steering group and is one of the key people that disseminates key messages to operational teams embedding the messages and continuously champions equality diversity and inclusion.

Mayflor Bernal, Matron for NMAHP and International Recruitment

 Mayflor has exemplified a deep commitment to fostering an inclusive and welcoming environment for all international recruited nurses within our trust.  Mayflor has distinguished herself as a compassionate and dedicated individual who ensures that every international recruited nurse receives the pastoral support they need and feels valued within our organization. One notable initiative led by Mayflor was the recent organisation of the Southeast Asian Heritage Month celebration, where staff members from these countries were given a platform to showcase their unique cultures and traditions. Her resilience and commitment to promoting a diverse and inclusive environment are truly commendable. Following the Sunderland Riots in June 2024, Mayflor stepped up as a visible, inclusive and supportive leader.

Remi Omole, Lead Chaplain

Remi works everyday to create inclusive and safe environments for patients, families and staff who need additional support, often in times of extreme grief and distress. As a leader, Remi is always generous with his time to support colleagues and other teams looking to make inclusive improvements. He offers insightful advice, listening effectively and offer solutions that will make a real change. During the Sunderland Riots in June 2024, Remi and his team were a central part of the Trust’s response to support colleagues affected. Remi led his team to take on this extra responsibility during this period to ensure that all staff felt supported within the Trust.

Simmone Dixon, Junior Sister

Simmone Dixon is one of the ten STSFT Dignity and Respect at Work Champions working within the Trust to provide a confidential listening ear and signposting service for staff who have been, or have witnessed, bullying or harassment - this includes staff who have experienced racism, homophobia, sexism or any form of discrimination. Simmone has also worked tirelessly to promote civility within her own department by regularly discussing civility with key team leaders and ensuring it keeps its place on the agenda at team meetings.

AnCath Cabanting, Lead Rheumatology Specialist Nurse

AnCath demonstrates unwavering dedication to patient care and support for her colleagues. As a manager, AnCath fostered a supportive environment for her team by providing flexible working options, listening to staff concerns, and fostering individual growth. With her compassionate and inclusive leadership, she promoted harmony and teamwork regardless of their professional opinion differences. She empowered staff through in-house training, which she co-designed and co-produced with the rest of her team, providing assurance to her matron and other stakeholders.

Christian Allan Bajande, Advanced Podiatry Assistant

‘Dr Al’ is compassionate, friendly and always cheerful, nothing is ever a bother to him. Whatever you ask Allan to do he does it with enthusiasm and a big smile on his face. He is the most hardworking person and never complains. Because of his experience working in ICCU, Allan brings some fantastic skills when it comes to dealing with clinical emergencies. Allan swoops in and takes charge of the situation with a calmness and confidence that is commendable. He is the nicest person you could ever wish to meet and everyone he comes into contact with- whether they are colleagues or patients or relatives only ever have nice things to say about him.

Francis Maw, Healthcare Assistant

Fran comes to work with such a positive attitude and the impact of that alongside his fabulous humour makes such a difference to even the most difficult of days. Fran is described as always going out of his way to check on the welfare of every staff member on shift and offering words of encouragement to all. He never complains and is such a fabulous support. 'The patience and kindness Fran shows to patients with mental health is inspiring. He has literally no idea of how his natural spirit, personality and can do attitude raises morale and supports our patients and given the nature of our ward, we simply could not do without him.'

Mark Graham, Advanced Practitioner Pharmacist

Mark is a fountain of knowledge and if he doesn't know the answer he will always find this out. Marks vast knowledge and skill in oncology pharmacy has put many headaches to rest. He is able to trouble shoot problems before they become a problem for the team. His support to B28 Chemo team is second to none. Mark always has the trusts core values at the forefront of everything he does, and the patient, their treatment and safety is a goal he achieves daily!   

Nicola Lawson, T&O Resource Manager

Following covid, waiting times have increased significantly, despite numerous initiatives aimed at reducing them. Nicola has been key to not only identifying where efforts will have the biggest impact through her ongoing focus on performance management, but by ensuring that the admin processes involved run smoothly with little or no additional resource. Regardless of how busy she is, she is always patient, kind and understanding, and will give the patients as much of her time. In June/July this year it was decided that we would try and access capacity within the both the independent sector (private hospitals) and other Trusts in the region. Nicola has lead on the work to coordinate this, and has personally dealt with the vast majority of the patients we have transferred to other hospitals. To date we have transferred over 1000 patients to other hospitals, all of which have had (or will have) their surgery quicker than we could have done it. 1000 patients who are no longer in daily pain, often unable to do not only the things they love but even everyday tasks like washing the dishes. 1000 patients who are better off thanks to Nicola’s efforts.

Assessment of Breathing Clinic Team

The team work across physical and mental health and offer truly holistic personalised care. The team have improved patients outcomes and reduced unfair differences in health. The team are offering more care in the community and joining services up. By offering proactive approach the team have improved access to care and made it personalised. An innovative aspect of ABC is that the team proactively case find patients- this is an important part of the shift in health care from treatment to prevention. Rather than respond when things go wrong like a chest infection the ABC team predict and try and prevent the infections.   

Bev Frankland, Inquest and Legal Liaison Manager

Bev is a key member of staff and loves supporting her fellow colleagues and providing advice (sometimes even at 1am!). Bev is NHS through and through and always strives for excellence, whether that be in her own work or supporting colleagues to do the same. Bev is an asset to the Trust and is completely irreplaceable. On top of her day job Bev is also a Freedom to Speak Up Ambassador and is committed to ensuring that the Trust has an open and transparent culture. Bev is always highlighting the outstanding work of others and frequently submits excellence reports for staff members she comes across in her role – The nomination states it’s time for Bev to also be recognised for her outstanding contribution.

Cheryl Bean, CT Advanced Practitioner

Cheryl has had some particularly challenges to navigate this year including the break-down of the new CT scanner in radiology at Sunderland. Whilst the scanner was out of action, Cheryl worked tirelessly with the teams at SRH and South Tyneside to best manage the flow of patients ensuring we could always manage the most urgent patients in the right place but equally seeking more innovative ways that we could manage the more complex elective patients that would otherwise have had to be cancelled. Cheryl's manner and patient centred approach during this particularly tricky time resulted in minimal disruption from this quite significant incident to the team and to patients and there were very few if any complaints. I put this firmly down to Cheryl's leadership and willingness to step in with proactive solutions to maintain services. Cheryl is an ambassador for the department and never thinks twice about volunteering to support major initiatives by working weekends and evenings.

Helen Turnbull, Divisional Director, Theatres and Critical Care

Helen has worked in the NHS for over 38 years and embodies the very best of our Trust, consistently going above and beyond to improve patient care, support staff development, and driving innovation within the Division of Theatres and Critical Care. Helen leads with compassion, clarity and a strong moral compass. She fosters a collaborative and supportive environment where every team member feels valued and empowered. Her leadership has been instrumental in navigating the complexities of critical care services, particularly during challenging periods like the recent pandemic.

Mark Tull, Clinical Team Manager, Talking Therapies

Mark demonstrates a wealth of knowledge and understanding across a wide range of roles. Despite the wealth of experience and an exceptionally wide portfolio, Mark remains humble and retains awareness of his own limitations as a practitioner and leader and can seek help and utilise the support of others where needed. Mark has been an inspiration to staff within the organisation within his various roles, demonstrating excellent management, supervision, leadership, mentoring, coaching, support, and guidance.

Uma Nath, Consultant Neurologist

Uma is an authority on Parkinson's Disease. She's dedicated herself to the study and treatment of the condition, gaining local, regional and national respect for the work that she does. Uma has inspired and mentored many team members from differing professional backgrounds to ensure patient care is advanced. With her contributions, our trust is now able to offer newer treatments for Parkinson's disease in its later stages. Her ongoing teaching and training inspires many nurses and doctors to be a part of the fantastic care that her team provide. The nomination states her compassion for her patients and charity causes outside of her immediate hospital work is immense and worthy of recognition and celebration.

Alison Napper, Frailty Nurse Practitioner

Alison has worked for the trust over 40 years and majority of her time has been spent in community.  Alison has coached and mentored many nurses throughout her career to share her knowledge, develop skill and increase confidence. Alison is the epitome of what a community nurse represents, Alison is part of the community she serves and is known by many, many families, professionals and services, including our acute hospital staff. The nomination states what Alison does not know about the community she works in and the services available to her patients is genuinely not worth knowing.

David Steel, Consultant Ophthalmologist and Vitreo Retinal Surgeon

Over many years David’s rising profile nationally and internationally has brought significant benefit to ophthalmology in Sunderland and the region, a profile that continues to deliver. David is described as being an extremely intelligent and well known individual within the Ophthalmic world, he is a very approachable and likeable colleague to whom his patients warm to and his opinion and expertise remain in high demand. David is a clinical supervisor for our junior doctors and is passionate about teaching and mentoring our future generation of ophthalmologists and retinal surgeons. David was also pivotal in writing and driving forward the bid to create the National Centre for Ophthalmology Research and Innovation (NORI) which will be based at Sunderland university, working in conjunction with the new Sunderland eye hospital.

Melanie Milburn, Head of Nursing, Community

Mel has dedicated her life to the NHS having been a nurse for over 40 years across a range of areas. In all of her roles she has always strived for excellence, implementing improvements and developments. She has championed and supported the implementation of new development roles to address staffing challenges and support development for staff, with new roles proving very successful across services. Mel has always been accessible in whatever role she was in, happy to talk and listen, supporting with professional challenge and ideas. She has driven teams to be the best they can be by her informative and supportive behaviour. Her nomination states that those that know and have worked with Mel will be familiar with her warmth and kindness each and every day, as a colleague you feel supported, cared for and looked after, for all of us that is important.

Mary Pollard, Education and Training Manager

Mary will have worked for the Trust for 50 years on the 30th December 2024. Mary started work with us as part of Sunderland Area Health authority in 1974 as a shorthand typist in the Medical Records department before moving into various medical secretary roles which she held successfully for many years. Not only does Mary strive to ensure the Trust delivers high quality training to all stsft staff, she is passionate about personal development and has supported many of her team to realise their own potential. Mary is as an extremely hard worker who has a wealth of experience and knowledge around statutory and mandatory training so much so she is now supporting national training review work.

Pauline Bown, Ward Manager

Pauline has worked for the trust for 40 + years. She has been ward manager for 20 + years. She is an exceptional leader who is inspiring and supportive to all of her staff. She takes a keen interest in developing staffs knowledge and career progressions which is demonstrated by all the staff who have progressed their career into senior roles within the trust.   

Shahid Junejo, Consultant Cardiologist

Over the past few decades, Shahid has been instrumental in developing and expanding the Cardiology department. The implementation and expansion of this service, which now offers 24/7 planned and unplanned treatment for patients with potentially life-threatening conditions has since grown to become one of the most highly regarded nationally. The development of the "Chest Pain Assessment Unit," which he contributed to, provides a unique facility which allows direct access to specialist care and treatment. Patient outcomes locally have been transformed by these, and other, developments. Shahid has been visionary in his work on prevention in establishing the “iVasc” group, which was years ahead of its time in identifying and treating patients at risk of vascular disease. He continues to chair this group whilst looking to explore new avenues for supporting the prevention agenda and maintaining good health in our population.

Shlok Balupuri, Consultant Surgeon

Shlok has spent three decades working in the NHS and the trust.  His seniority and experience means he is a valuable mentor for young consultants. He is also a valued trainer and teacher and the senior trainees all love going to his lists. He is responsible for training almost all consultants in the North East region as well as further afield such as Whittington. He frequently comes in for other colleagues who request his help without any hesitancy or expectation of reward or thanks. He is well liked by all staff and trainees due to his humour and light heartedness.