A kind, positive and sympathetic deputy operations manager who makes patient listening a priority, and a cheery, friendly healthcare assistant who is the go-to cannulator, are the winners of June’s You Made a Difference awards.
Emma has worked in the Trust since 2001 and is a healthcare assistant at the Cambridge Infusion Centre. Emma works tirelessly above and beyond her role, particularly when it comes to tissue viability and all this is self-motivated.
The Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) service and tissue viability aspect would not function effectively without Emma’s knowledge; she plays an integral role in the service. Emma’s expertise in terms of dressings is invaluable when it comes to appropriate wound management. This leads to faster wound healing and shorter courses of antibiotics, which in turn frees up capacity in the OPAT service.
Emma’s second important role is in terms of her phlebotomy and cannulation skills. She can often perform these on patients with incredibly challenging venous access.
Emma is the best cannulator I have ever met. When all the nurses on the unit fail to insert a cannula into a patient, they turn to ‘Nash’. Who, without fail, manages to insert a cannula without any use of ultrasound guidance.
Emma is a fountain of knowledge on the day to day running of the hospital, having worked within the Trust for many years, and she has contacts everywhere. If ever there is a question to be answered you go to Emma. She is always happy to oblige and usually ends up sorting the issue out herself.
As part of her extended role, Emma is the Tissue Viability Link for the unit. She provides expertise to nurses and doctors alike on the best dermatological or dressing treatment for the numerous patients that we see on the unit, as part of the OPAT cellulitis pathway. Today she has been chasing a GP practice to ensure that one of our recently discharged OPAT patient’s dressings were performed in a timely manner by their practice nurse. This was not her responsibility but she duly did it out of true concern for the patient’s wellbeing. This intervention has potentially prevented the patient returning to hospital with a further flare up of their cellulitis.
Time and time again, Emma goes above and beyond what is expected of her. She is always cheery, very friendly and so hard working. She definitely deserves the award in my humble opinion.
Emma is an absolute ball of energy who is happy to teach anyone, and never ever says no. She is mad about her parrots, dogs, snakes, frogs, lizards, dragons and chickens! And we still adore her!
Ally became deputy operations manager for Outpatients in 2016, although she has had a number of roles since starting in the organisation back in 2000. During this time Ally also worked at Oxford and Imperial from 2005, returning CUH to 2014.
As deputy operations manager Ally is responsible for ensuring the smooth running of Outpatients alongside her colleagues, but has a specific remit around governance and safety. This award is specifically related to work that Ally has been leading on for a few years - chairing Outpatients Experience. Under her stewardship the group has grown from strength to strength, now forming a critical part of patient advocacy and coproduction within the hospital.
This is reflected in her nomination which said:
“Ally has set up and chairs the Outpatients Experience group, where she has instituted an open invitation for all outpatients at Addenbrooke’s to apply to join. The invitation is on the website and is often put up on the screens around the hospital. Ally is a very kind, positive and warm person who is very sympathetic and always open to discussion and change in all aspects of how outpatients interact with the hospital.”
Ally’s whole mission in life is to make life more comfortable and easier for all the outpatients and she is very keen to be fully inclusive of vulnerable patients who may not usually have a voice.
Examples of her work includes offering everyone a highly accessible app so that patients can easy navigate their way around the hospital. Ally is currently working hard to liaise with our Estates team and others about pedestrian access around the precinct of hospital, and supporting outreach work with hard-to-reach patients to understand and capture their views and their needs, among many other issues.
“The thing that is greatest about Ally is that she always listens deeply. She makes sure everyone can be heard and can contribute, she does not judge and she will always go out on a limb to do whatever she can to address the concerns and anxieties of patients.
“Ally is a bright, shining example who makes patient-listening a priority, something we can all learn from.”
Ally is also a strong advocate for staff wellbeing, as well has being a keen part-time farmer!