An empathetic, kind and thoughtful physician’s assistant with a special affinity with children; and a senior sister with a passion for elderly care are the winners of January’s You Made a Difference awards.
Hannah Farmer joined the phlebotomy team in January 2019 as a physician’s assistant, having previously worked on the staff bank as a healthcare assistant.
Hannah has the ability to liaise with young patients on a different level. As an onlooker you would think she had known these children forever as they seem to trust her immediately. This is truly a special attribute.
Hannah is thoughtful, empathetic and kind, always motivated and bubbly. She is full of energy for the little ones and never rushes through her tasks. Hannah also has an affinity with animals; the current love of her life is her dog Kobe. On one occasion her mum was called to drive out to a field with a box to help rescue a sick rabbit that Hannah had come across. Hannah’s team also recalls a robin with a broken beak which Hannah brought food for – it then turned up again in the Jubilee Garden and she shared some of her food again, and likely arranged another follow up appointment!
Hannah’s manager said: “The phlebotomy team is very proud of Hannah, and also all the physician’s assistants who often work quietly in the background for our patients covering many services, so it’s a great morale boost for our team.”
This is reflected in the winning nomination from the relative of a patient, extracts of which told us:
“My young son had broken his leg - as you can imagine this was extremely painful for him. We had to stay on Ward D2 in case we had to go down for surgery, and whilst there we met Hannah who was in and out of the ward that day.”
Hannah made my son feel so at ease and even cracked a smile out of him; she was absolutely wonderful. She’s such a joy to be around.
“Just as we were packing to go home Hannah came along with a ‘get well soon’ balloon for my son and told him this was for his bravery.”
I could've cried I was so overwhelmed by her kindness. She made such a huge difference to our stay in hospital, and especially for my son's first stay overnight. Her kindness made it a much more positive stay. I can’t thank her enough!
Georgina started at Addenbrooke’s in February 1988 as a student nurse and after completing her training she worked as a staff nurse on the gynaecological ward for two years. Georgina then moved to Ward G4 to work on a medical ward for the elderly.
Georgina found the role fulfilling and soon developed a passion for elderly care. She later completed a degree in health studies and gerontology nursing.
Georgina has now worked as a senior sister for over 20 years on several of the elderly care wards. In 2008 she was given the opportunity to help set up a new acute medical ward for the elderly, Ward C4, where she is still the senior sister.
Georgina says it is a privilege to work with some fantastic and inspiring staff over the years. She is incredibly proud of the nursing team on C4 and the care they provide to our patients and their families. She has built an effective, successful and friendly team, some of whom have worked alongside Georgina for over 14 years. Elderly care can be very challenging but it still remains her passion and Georgina is keen to try to raise the profile of this sometimes overlooked speciality.
She will always try to encourage and support her staff to realise their potential and work together as a team in order to provide a professional and high quality caring ward environment.
Extracts of Georgina’s nomination said:
“I have been working here in CUH for over 20 years and Georgina has been my line manager for most of this time. Throughout my career she has always supported me with training, pushing me to improve my skills.”
She always presents as happy and cheerful and this is reflected in C4’s statistics for the number of discharges each day, low staff turnover and many other markers.
“When I caught Covid-19 earlier this year, she was brilliant and supportive in helping me work as much as possible, and flexing my shifts so I could work from temporary admin to clinical again. This is all while working clinically for the majority of the day and doing a lot of her manager role at home remotely.”
Georgina is the example of what I want to be when I finally complete an apprenticeship into nursing.