‘This is a situation that cannot go on indefinitely’
STEVE FORD, EDITOR
22 November, 2022 By Gemma Mitchell
A prison nursing leader, an overseas nurse ambassador, and a trust that has almost wiped out its nursing vacancies are among those recognised in the 2022 Nursing Times Workforce Awards.
The winners were announced this evening during a ceremony at the Hilton London Metropole attended by more than 700 professionals from across the health and social care community.
“We have shone a light on those organisations and individuals that go the extra mile when trying to attract new nursing staff”
Steve Ford
The awards this year covered 17 categories and celebrate individuals and organisations going above and beyond to recruit, retain and support their nursing workforce.
Among the winners was Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which was named Best UK Employer of the Year for Nursing Staff, for its Grow Our Own staff programme.
The scheme has seen the trust reduce its registered nurse vacancies by 95% through various initiatives including the creation of a “transition into practice” programme for new nurses, and support for healthcare assistants and internationally educated nurses to gain UK nurse registration.
The trust’s award entry explained how in 2017, before the project, it was averaging close to 200 nurse vacancies and staff were struggling.
It added: “Our nurses inspired this initiative. No one should come to work and suffer the moral injury of not feeling enabled to do a great job.”
The 2022 Workforce Team of the Year
Meanwhile, the Think Family Outreach Team in Coventry and Warwickshire was named Workforce Team of the Year.
Nurses Claire Mulligan and Jane Ralphs led the project, which sees children in emotional distress provided with “wrap around” support from a multi-agency team of professionals from health and social care.
The award entry explained: “There have been multi-agency discussions through the Children in Crisis forums over a significant period where it has been noted that young people and their families require a multi-agency approach when presenting in crisis and not just focusing on a mental health perspective.
“Our hypothesis was that if we could provide a multi-agency approach that could be responsive and creative at the time of crisis we could contain and support the young person and their family by offering a personalised ‘wrap around service’ that would lay the foundations.”
Among the individuals who won awards this year was Karen Hinsley, head of healthcare at HMP Doncaster, who was crowned Nurse Manager of the Year.
The entry explained how Ms Hinsley had shown “exceptional resilience” while leading teams under “significantly compromised circumstances” including through the Covid-19 pandemic.
Karen Hinsley receiving her award
It said she had helped to develop “robust and effective new pharmacy pathways” at the prison and had improved recruitment and retention.
“She displays incredible leadership qualities in a range of situations and is constantly seeking new challenges through her work, always volunteering to take on the most difficult of circumstances; leading teams through adverse situations, and discovering new and clever ways of overcoming problems that her teams are faced with,” the award entry said.
Winning the Overseas Nurse of the Year award was Audrey Rose Tapang, a Filipino nurse from Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Ms Tapang has worked for the trust for seven years and now uses her own experiences to support other overseas staff through her role of senior nurse for international recruitment.
The award entry described Ms Tapang as a “great role model and ambassador for international nurses”.
It stated that Ms Tapang had worked “tirelessly” to ensure international staff had the best pastoral care and had gone “above and beyond” to help those facing “difficult challenges”.
Overseas Nurse of the Year, Audrey Rose Tapang
Giving one example, the entry said: “A recently deployed nurse found out that she was pregnant and felt quite isolated. Audrey was there to support her and also prepared to be her birthing partner!”
It added: “Perhaps the most striking reason to nominate Audrey is due to her progression and development as a fair and inspirational leader.
“She is keen to make the [international recruitment] team the best that it can be and leads with clear articulation and vision.”
Editor of Nursing Times and the host of the awards, Steve Ford, congratulated all 17 winners.
He added: “Our awards highlight nursing’s workforce achievements and some of the brilliant work being carried out during what continues to be an incredibly difficult period, due to enduring staff shortages, the aftermath of the pandemic and the approach of winter
“Once again, we have shone a light on those organisations and individuals that go the extra mile when trying to attract new nursing staff and, just as importantly, celebrated efforts to retain staff.”
Best Use of Workplace Technology – Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust: Immersive virtual reality simulations in safeguarding training
Best Recruitment Experience – Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust: Golden Ticket
Best International Recruitment Experience – University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust: Recognition of post-registration experience in international nurse recruitment
Best Social Responsibility Programme – The Christie NHS Foundation Trust: Climate Change: A health emergency engaging the local community
Best Staff Wellbeing Initiative – Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust: Safety incident supporting our staff initiative
Best Workplace for Learning and Development – Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust with NHS Arden and GEM CSU: Maximising your potential – Leadership Development Programme
Best Employer for Staff Recognition and Engagement – West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust: Clinical supervision: one trust’s approach to engaging with staff to support and improve staff wellbeing
Best Employer for Diversity and Inclusion – Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust: Lived experience of homelessness pilot
Preceptorship Programme of the Year – Elysium Healthcare: Creating Foundations of Support and Team-Working
Preceptor of the Year – Suraj Kumar, West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospital NHS Trust
Practice Educator of the Year – Lucy Compiani, NHS Dorset
Diversity and Inclusion Champion of the Year – Ester Jamera, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Manager of the Year (Non-clinical) – Roshni Shah, Nightingale Hammerson
Nurse Manager of the Year – Karen Hinsley, HMP Doncaster
Overseas Nurse of the Year – Audrey Rose Tapang, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Workforce Team of the Year – Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust with RISE: Think family outreach team
Best UK Employer of the Year for Nursing Staff – Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust: Grow our own
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