Published on: 5 May 2020

To celebrate 2020’s International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust is launching new categories in its annual Reward and Recognition Awards.

The three, special recognition categories are: Midwife of the Year, Nurse of the Year - Community Services and Nurse of the Year – Acute Services. Each is open to all registered nurses or midwives working at the Trust. Candidates must have shown strong leadership and have integrated the principles of quality, safety and patient experience into their work and the work of their team or service.

Melanie Johnson, South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust’s Executive Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals, said: “These awards recognise the enormous range of skills, expertise and enduring compassion that modern nursing and midwifery represent. They celebrate registered nurses and midwives who go above and beyond their everyday roles to provide excellent care, leadership and inspiration to their colleagues and patients.”

Nominations are now being invited from fellow healthcare professionals and colleagues at the Trust who are familiar with the work of their nominees. Entrants have to have been involved in:   

  • ensuring the delivery of safe and effective care, keeping patients at the heart of their service
  • inspiring a shared vision and engaging their team/colleagues in the process
  • redesigning and delivering their service, showing how they have looked to the future and engaged their team to encourage creativity, problem-solving, collaborative thinking and development of new ways of working
  • promoting a high-performance culture, demonstrating how they have facilitated the contribution of colleagues.

The finalists will be chosen by a panel of judges and the awards will be presented at the Trust’s Reward and Recognition event later this year.

The popular annual event celebrates the Trust’s very own NHS heroes, acknowledging outstanding achievement across the organisation. Individuals and teams are nominated by their peers for going the extra mile and making a significant contribution in key areas such as patient care, leadership, service improvement and innovation. Staff are also recognised for their long service.

Staff have until July 31st, 2020, to submit entries for the Midwife of the Year, Nurse of the Year - Community Services and Nurse of the Year – Acute Services categories. Nominations for all other Reward and Recognition award categories will open soon.