Your Choice Award

“The last 18 months have seen large scale change to the medicines management service structure and leadership team. Recruitment into the pharmacy workforce is competitive and although staffing levels are steadily improving, it has been a significant challenge to implement a new operating model. 

As the Head of Mental Health Clinical Services, Agatha has brought staff together to create a team where colleagues support each other. Introducing daily safety huddles has meant that despite the vast geographical footprint of the team, staff feel connected and able to reach out to ensure patients receive their medicines safely and responsively.   

Her resilience, work ethic, compassionate leadership style and daily demonstration of Trust values are the reasons why she deserves the Your Choice Award. Agatha always uses a just and learning approach and inspires those around her to reflect and share learning to improve patient care. Thank you Agatha for being an ambassador for the clinical services team and for always prioritising the care of patients and wellbeing of staff.”

“Despite going through a challenging time over the 12 months, the team has shown incredible resilience and team working ethos. They have worked together incredibly well and supported each other. They have overcome barriers to ensure that patient safety remained the priority and that the service continued to provide the highest quality care. I am incredibly proud of this team and would love to see them recognised for all their hard work and dedication.”

“Beryl works in our Community Care Division at Peasley Cross. She is amazing, hardworking and has an aura of positivity and an amazing sense of humour. She takes care of us like her own and goes out of the way to help us. She checks on us when she passes by, never forgets to say hello and always gives 110% in all her work. I take this opportunity to thank her for all the good work she does for us. Thank you, my dear Beryl.”

“Clare has a natural ability and supports a culture of inclusivity within our teams. She consistently shows empathy, care and compassion to not only the families she works with, but to the team as well, which she supports through her clinical work.

Clare encourages families to have their own voice and she gives them strength and courage to use their voices in the most effective way. Clare continuously demonstrates her passion and support for her caseload. Anyone who has met Clare instantly feels her passion in supporting the most vulnerable people in our communities, this passion is contagious and feeds into every aspect of our service, with the service user always central to what we do.

Clare embodies our culture and values and is one of the most compassionate members of our team - this is what drives her.

Feedback from service user, “Clare, I have a great relationship with my baby and it’s all down to you. I thought I would never get to this point, and I know that we are going to be ok… more than ok. Thank you.”

“We have known Clare McCauley for slightly over five years due to her being my daughter’s Children’s Community Nurse. From the first day we met Clare we felt at ease, she is bubbly, very approachable, respectful, confident in her knowledge and has always been reliable.

I can honestly say that without Clare we may have been in a completely different situation now regarding my daughter’s health. Clare has been there on many a medical emergency and has always acted calmly and quickly with treatment, and phoning an ambulance if it has been needed. She’s easily reachable and makes sure to make time for my daughter when she is poorly or there is a concern; she is always there offering advice and quick to respond to any of our queries. When Clare is unsure of something regarding her health, she is first to hold her hands up and seek advice from other health professionals, and push for them to see my daughter personally and take action which we are extremely grateful for, especially since my daughter has started with new unexplained episodes. She is the only person we trust with nasal suction training and honestly one of the few people we trust regarding my daughter and her needs.

She is always spot on with her hygiene, making sure all her equipment is clean with antibacterial wipes before and after using them, along with using hand sanitiser and hand washing / wearing gloves multiple times throughout the visit, she is also very respectful to our household, taking shoes off upon entering.

Clare is very approachable, she’s not only been there for my daughter’s health needs but also both our emotional needs, she is very easy to talk to and has never judged. She listens to our concerns and offers advice if she can. She is always checking up on both my daughter and me, especially when she is unwell, had hospital stays or has been for a visit and noticed something wasn’t quite right with me emotionally. She’s one of my daughter’s biggest advocates and will push for what she needs when we haven’t been able to get anywhere.

Overall, Clare has been a blessing to our family, when my daughter was born, we were thrown into a medical world, we were young and scared, and life was filled with lots of uncertainty and change. Clare was and has been the only constant in all our lives and we will forever be grateful for her. She is a blessing to the NHS and to our family.”

“I have had the pleasure of working closely with Collette over the years and as a result have become good friends. Collette is truly amazing and inspirational. Her dedication, compassion and kindness shines through in all she does.

Collette has encouraged and supported service users and members of the public to become volunteers, she has supported the volunteers from the start and continues to support them throughout their volunteering experience, some of which have then become permanent staff members, of which I believe her support contributed to this.

Collette demonstrates the Trust’s values daily, continuous improvement to people’s lives and accountability, to ensure all feel supported during, before and after becoming a volunteer, adhering to policy and guidance and ensuring all are fully aware and understand their expectations and expectations of others. Respect in how she treats people and why she is respected by all, enthusiasm to make a positive difference no matter how difficult times may be and finally, support, her kindness and caring nature to help others and ensure inclusivity.

Collette is held in high regard with her colleagues, volunteers and service users. Collette should be proud of herself as others are, she is deserving of this nomination.'

"The whole children's eating disorder team should receive recognition for the incredible work they do with young people across Knowsley, one of whom was my daughter. From the amazing nurses (especially Kevin, Christian and Cal), dietician (Jenny), therapists (Rob Tyrer and Mark Gerard), consultant Dr Kumar and his secretary Lesley, the receptionists and junior doctors who all, in one aspect or another, helped us through our daughter's illness. This is not a team who treat just the patient, but a team who care for and support the whole family too, through a difficult, upsetting and frightening time. This team deserve recognition for the difference they make to young people and their families. A truly outstanding service that we will continue to champion and support as a small token of our thanks for the difference they made, helping our daughter to recover from the grip of anorexia. They are a credit to mental health services and Mersey Care."

Children and Young People’s mental health services have gone through a significant transformation over the last two years, tackling delays to young people getting the right treatment at the right time and this was a picture seen nationally.

Since 2023 the teams have worked incredibly hard to tackle the waiting times and ensure patients are seen within a timely manner. The services are now in the top 25% of teams in the country providing the fastest appointments for children, both for their first and second appointments.

Back in 2022 a child referred in September for their first appointment, would have waited on average 12 weeks for their first appointment (a whole school term). This year the child would be offered an appointment within three weeks. The health and social benefits for any child is now measurably better, giving them the best start to their life.

“Eden Ward has faced some incredible challenges in the past year and ward staff have, despite these challenges, continued to provide individualised care and support to patient recovery on the ward - the resilience shown has been remarkable and is a credit to the team and leadership. For example, a patient who had previously been nursed with eight staff in their previous placement, after months of intensive work, has reduced to two supporting staff – thanks to Eden Ward’s commitment to their recovery.

The team facilitated an event for Mother’s Day supporting all the ladies on the ward, being sensitive to individual circumstances, and they had a tickled pink event raising awareness of breast cancer and other female health issues. One member of staff described the tickled pink event as, ‘The best day in work in my career’ spanning 24 years.

The staff on Eden Ward continue with high standards in QRV assessments with Good Plus and Good, despite significant challenges and complex admissions, and have successfully discharged two patients in the last year.

Spend one week on Eden and you will realise how deserving that team is for this award!”

Emma spent the last few months leading a medicines waste reduction project within Longmoor House. The project looked at waste, and ways the Trust could improve processes around unused medication to reduce unnecessary drug costs.

Emma contributed additional hours outside of her day to day role to write a project brief, consult and seek the buy in of all the other relevant parties, write the medicine return policy, and acquire medicine return bins.

Once the project was approved, she undertook much of the work herself, collecting medications, sorting through what could be returned and reused, driving the medication from Longmoor to Maghull, and logging the medications back onto the stock computer system.

In the initial trial period of seven weeks, Emma has saved the Trust £3,384 (from four wards) by reallocating unused medication.”

Why they should get your vote

Patient 1 

“I am incredibly grateful for the service you offer; my advisor was the first person to actually listen to me and understand what help and support I need and provided valuable advice for me to go back to my employer and HR as well. 

This has led to me being able to increase my hours and set boundaries and feel more motivated and passionate about my job.  Without the employment support service, I am not sure I would have been able to return to work.”

Patient 2 

“I would just like to sincerely thank you so much for your support. The work your advisers do is life changing. 

I was in such an awful situation with my employer and my mental health was deteriorating quite significantly. I was struggling to find motivation to search for jobs and apply after work, so felt stuck. I have now almost completed my first week in my new role and I am so happy. I feel I am in the right environment where I can thrive. I would not have even seen the opportunity were it not for my employment specialist. He helped at every step in the application process. I honestly cannot thank you or recommend you enough!”

“I have nominated Hanna and Alex as over this last year we have looked to them both for support and education in safeguarding. We have had some particularly difficult and challenging safeguarding referrals and Alex and Hanna have worked alongside us in an effort to get the right outcome. They have done this by attending meetings with us, taking on board our views and strengthening concerns we have highlighted.

I am aware following one case they plan to share a lessons learned which will be valuable for numerous other services. In addition to this, they have supported our team when I have asked for further education and development in safeguarding topics and collected data for me in efforts to strengthen our knowledge and improve our safeguarding processes. I am grateful for their expertise and guidance and look forward to continuing to work alongside them.”

I strongly recommend Jenny for this award and believe she would be an ideal recipient to recognise her extraordinary contributions.”

Jo goes above and beyond to provide a holistic approach to all the patients she supports who are receiving treatment for anxiety and depression. Recently Jo worked with a patient who was unable to find a job, was volunteering at a local hospital and their children's school. The patient is originally from Egypt and was struggling to get a role that matched their level of experience. Initially the first barrier Jo had to support with was the patient’s housing as the family of five were living out of one hotel room, they had asked for support from housing but were not getting anywhere. Jo got in touch with Vauxhall Law Centre who agreed to take on the patient’s case pro bono. With Jo’s support the result after four months of working together has been the family were moved to a home and the children could enjoy their summer holidays. The patient has also been offered a quality governance role within the NHS.

I believe without Jo truly listening to the patient’s needs they could be in the same position to this day and just being signposted. Jo takes the time to listen and support everyone she works with.”

“Katie Nicholls thoroughly embodies our CARES values.

She has worked for the NHS for five years, recruited as a personal assistant supporting colleagues across Community Care Division. She worked tirelessly, helping deliver the Trust’s objectives, continuously improving, through additional training, self development and honing her skillset.

Her move to the Strategic Programmes and Development Team helped her develop further by supporting Director of Strategic Programmes, Chris Lyons.

Katie was recently appointed to the role of Business Development Facilitator. This role helps support one of our organisation’s key objectives of growing the business through the successful renewal of existing contracts and winning new contracts. Katie helps identify new business opportunities, carries out an assessment to ensure the opportunity fits our strategic objectives and is viable. She coordinates, collates, submits bid information, working at pace to strict deadlines with high standards of work.

Katie often goes that extra mile to make sure bids are completed and submitted on time.

She is reliable, trustworthy and so supportive and helpful to her colleagues.

Her positive outlook and can do attitude add value to the work that the team delivers and supports positive outcomes for our organisation.”

Kerry has shown commitment and dedication to the people of Croxteth and during this time has helped the community by partaking in community forestry school and providing artwork for the woods in Croxteth park that were there for many years.

Kerry was only 21 when she started with Croxteth district nurses and has been involved in many changes to the service. Kerry is kind, caring and compassionate and is loved by staff and patients alike. Congratulations Kerry on 20 years of hard work and dedication.”

The team has created many efficiencies allowing patients to receive improved care. This includes robust safety netting measures sharing pan Mersey Care guidelines which are followed by care homes until patients are assessed. Routine patients opt in letters with department contact details, and if referred for nutritional support first line advice leaflet provided for safety netting and quicker escalation back to the team as needed. The team utilised British Dietetic Association (BDA) guidance with support from the dietetic professional lead to allow more patients to be seen, by overbooking clinics to counterbalance patients that did not attend.

The team focused on changing culture to enable clinicians to confidently discharge patients, and caseload cleanse weekly. The team has recently changed their children's taste buddies programme to a virtual offer and are utilising a Plan, Do, See, Act (PDSA) approach to this change, ensuring that patient feedback will be at the heart of the evaluation to ensure the future delivery of this programme meets the family and child’s needs. Well deserved nomination for all the positive changes.”

“The Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy team in Knowsley has worked hard to try to make sure that all the children referred are seen within 18 weeks, despite having a number of vacancies and a rising referral count. They have been flexible in this approach, opening up new referral clinics as required and working with schools and nurseries to meet the needs of the children referred.

They have produced training using digital platforms to make sure parents can access the information when they want and as many times as they need. They have supported children and families and provided education health care plans and have welcomed new team members, supporting them to develop their competencies and skills.

The team is working hard on new ideas and suggestions to reduce waiting times, despite rising numbers and limited staff in post. The team has embraced the Trust values and constantly strive to provide good quality, evidence based and effective care for all the children and families.”

The team has multiple quality improvement projects ongoing to create processes that allow service users feedback to influence service delivery and enhance all of our clinical areas.”

“Lindsey is the team manager of the community therapy hub comprising of three teams. Lindsey has been a constant provider of advice, support, knowledge and friendship and she is always ready to support any of her teams with ever evolving challenges.

There have been so many significant changes in the team but Lindsey is always available to support/advise and she always seems to know where to find something or who to contact if we need further help. Lindsey supports everyone within all of her teams and is always compassionate to the needs of her staff no matter what challenges she is facing in her own day/week. Lindsey will always make time to speak to her colleagues when they need advice or support and has been an absolute rock to me both as a colleague and a friend. She has a calm approach to everything and always has a positive outlook when things seem impossible.

I can't thank Lindsey enough for everything she does for me and for my team each day. She is an absolute gem.”

“I work in a team that is fortunate to work well together with the same goal in mind. We are an extremely organised, focused, hardworking and dedicated team.

We continually learn and develop best practices both efficiently and effectively.

Our dedication and commitment in our job roles is exceptional, we strive to continually improve our service and make it inclusive to all children and young people, if we cannot vaccinate a child in school due to being absent or if a child is nervous, we offer home visits, Saturday clinics and clinics throughout the school holidays. We also attend community events to check on children's vaccination status.

Our team strives to protect all our young people from vaccine preventable diseases.”

“The Liverpool Out of Hours District Nursing Team provide care to patients across the city between 8pm and 8am. Much of the care that the team provide is for palliative patients ensuring they are kept comfortable whilst providing support for families and carers during end of life and after death. The team deserve recognition for always striving to provide excellent care and for working cohesively together. They provide such a crucial service to patients and families who are frightened and stressed throughout the night and have such a positive impact at often very difficult times.

The visits that the team make to our palliative patients can often be the first time our service has encountered the patient and family, and it is testament to the team that they can quickly adapt to each situation, build a relationship and provide comfort and reassurance to each patient they encounter. I do not think that the team fully realise what special qualities this requires and how proud they should be of the difference they make each night.”

“Our School Health Team work closely with children and young people, parents, carers and teachers, promoting health and wellbeing in accordance with our Healthy Child Programme. We manage a caseload of 172 schools. We work with children, young people and their families (Children Young People and Families) to improve health and wellbeing outcomes and reduce health inequalities and vulnerabilities. We use our clinical judgement and public health expertise to identify health needs early, determining risk and protective factors, providing early intervention to prevent issues escalating, that may impact the children and young person’s education, their future health, opportunities and wellbeing.

Within the academic year 2023/2024 we completed 18,660 Healthy Child Programme core contacts that identified individual health intervention for 286 children and young people (CYP). We attended 7,440 safeguarding meetings and completed over 6,000 school nurse contact follow ups as well as many more interventions such as public health events to empower CYP to be informed about the choices they make about their health or where to access support.

Without our strong partnership working with schools, social care, acute and community health care professionals (and many more), we could not do the job we do and have the impact we have on CYP lives. We do what we do for our children's' futures.”

“I am nominating Liverpool Wheelchair Service for the Your Choice Award due to their dedication, enthusiasm and support to our service users.

The team has worked together, despite vacancies, maternity leave and unplanned leave to ensure the service user journey has remained positive.

The service has met referral to assessment KPI consistently for almost 12 months, even achieving 100%, a service first!

Staff have maintained these achievements through dedication and going above and beyond to support each other and our service users.

The team has flexed their roles and supported changes including the relocation of Community Equipment Services and development and implementation of new service pathways to ensure quality development.

Our team strive to make sure our service users’ individual needs are met. They use their skills and knowledge to find innovative solutions to meet the individual needs of the service user, often building bespoke solutions to maximise function and independence. The team always listens and promotes patient engagement and choice through NHS provision and joint funding options (personal wheelchair budget).

The team constantly look to use new innovations and products with an aim to support as many service users as possible. Amazing!”

“Lorna is an absolutely amazing clerk and a major asset to Maghull District Nurses. She goes above and beyond all expectations and really looks after us and makes our life so much easier, she is proactive with her thinking and always willing to help or do things to improve our work day. She really goes above and beyond her duties as a community clerk.”

“Maghull District Nurses play a crucial role in providing outstanding care and support to patients in their own homes. The team continually strive for service excellence.

The enthusiasm and respect shown by Maghull District Nurses towards their patients and each other greatly improves the overall quality of the care provided. Their continuous commitment to accountability ensures that their patients receive the best possible treatment, care and support ultimately leading to better health outcomes. They strive for perfect care daily and always go above and beyond where possible. They are so supportive of each other, other teams and divisions. Always willing to help others so the patients are seen safely.

Overall, their dedication and compassion as district nurses make a positive impact on the wellbeing of their patients and staff. The recognition and appreciation of their work from families, patients and carers via verbal feedback, cards, presents, patient feedback forms make a significant difference to the team morale and patient experience. The team feel proud to be able to work in this role and provide the necessary support to deliver holistic care resulting in positive patient outcomes.”

I’m nominating Mo as from the moment you meet her, it’s clear she genuinely cares about patients and she goes above and beyond, offering care that’s both compassionate and practical. Mo ensures I feel comfortable and heard, whether it’s suggesting a walk during our appointment to ease my anxiety or researching support groups for my partner. She understands it can be difficult for patients and always thinks of ways to make things easier, demonstrating whole person care.

Mo collaborates with other staff to provide the best care, such as when she worked with the team psychologist to get trained in a values exercise to help me. She’s proactive, creative, and not only provides advice but also practical actionable ideas. For example, helping me think of items that are personal to me to include in my “hope box” making the task more achievable and meaningful.

Why they should get your vote

“I would like to nominate our dynamic Medicines Management clinical teams that support inpatient mental health and secure services for their resilience, teamwork and determination to sustain core pharmaceutical services during what has been an extremely challenging year. These teams have successfully navigated an organisational change and transitioned to a new clinical service delivery model, with significant changes to operational, management and governance processes. The teams have been significantly overstretched due to increased demand, acuity, and workload, all within a background of staffing shortages and recruitment and retention challenges.

Despite these challenges, the teams have shown exceptional adaptability and integrated into cohesive high performing teams that cross cover for each other and consistently go above and beyond to support services, staff, and patients. Both teams have recently achieved ‘Good’ QRV ratings.

I have been really inspired by their teamwork, fortitude, and ability to forge collaborative, compassionate and psychologically safe workplace cultures. Their humility and continuous improvement mindsets have shone through when things have not gone to plan, enabling them to work collaboratively with others to resolve issues. Feedback from services has been overwhelmingly positive and showcases the value that these teams bring to wards, multidisciplinary Teams and patient care.

Throughout, the team have embodied the Trust values and behaviours while modestly getting on with their duties. I am proud to manage the team and see them successfully mobilise further across Halton schools and continue to make a significant difference to the mental health needs of children and young people in the borough.”

“This team has grown from strength to strength, within a year Mid Crisis Resolution Home Treatment Team (CRHT) was formed by merging four separate boroughs into one team.

The team has been through many changes in the last year from base changes and adapting to new processes. 

There has been a significant challenge for the team due to lost capacity of the workforce, but despite all this the team has continued to give it their all, ensuring the care they deliver remains a high standard.

It is evident that the team display care and compassion throughout the care they deliver, this is reflected by the significant amount of positive feedback they receive from patients, carers and families and other services within Mersey Care. Well done to Mid CRHT.”

“The Musculoskeletal team recently lost a valued member of the administrative department to suicide. Since his passing, the admin and clinical team have all come together to support each other through this tough time and without each other’s support it would be an even more difficult situation to navigate.

Everyone has shown compassion to the member of staff’s wife who is also a much valued member of the team. The team attended the funeral to show their respect and share memories of a much loved and missed colleague.”

“I am delighted to nominate Oladayo for Your Choice award, recognising his exceptional mentorship in my nursing research career within the Trust.

From the outset, Oladayo has been an unwavering source of support, guiding me through my research dream. His insightful feedback on my applications for research training and development has not only enhanced the quality of my work but has also instilled in me a deeper understanding of the nuances of nursing research. Oladayo's commitment to fostering my growth is evident in his willingness to dedicate time for one on one discussions, helping me navigate challenges and celebrate successes.

His passion for nursing research and his genuine investment in my development has made a profound impact on my journey. With Oladayo's guidance, I have gained the confidence and seek research opportunities, shaping my professional identity. This award not only recognises Oladayo’s dedication as a mentor but also highlights the pivotal role he has played in my trajectory as a researcher, making him truly deserving of this honour.”

“Our team PAC (Patient Appointment Centre) not only has their own caseload of work we also cover a very busy reception at Norris Green Hub.

Our role in PAC includes dealing with queries regarding outpatient appointments; liaising with other staff in the community mental health team, creating outpatient appointments, assisting with legal enquiries, taking calls from patients and the general public.

In PAC we also cover the reception at Norris Green Hub. I would also like to include them in this vote as I feel we are one team.

Norris Green Hub is one of the busiest of receptions within the Trust. The clinics are daily Monday to Friday which include outpatient Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) clinics, learning disability and complex care. The hub also facilitates groups for a wide variety of patients. The reception area is always busy. Not only do reception staff book patients in we have to answer the telephone. This includes queries from patients, their carers/support staff. Also, from external agencies - the police, probation, courts, Department for Work and Pensions and the general public.

Some calls can be challenging and distressing but staff support each other.

“The Reconnect (Care after Custody) Team has worked tirelessly over the last 12 months offering support to over 800 prisoners being released from HMP Liverpool, Altcourse and prisons across the country.

The team offer holistic vulnerability assessments and a collaboratively developed plan of support for release from prison, ensuring all health and wellbeing needs are met in an attempt to reduce the cycle of reoffending. The team has adapted their way of working, demonstrating innovative ways of supporting prisoners in light of the ever changing landscape for this population, from the Government announcement regarding early prison releases last October, to the probation reset and more recently the SDS40 scheme.

Despite the uncertainty and changes faced, the team has shown tenacity, determination and pride in their work resulting in regular, positive service user and family feedback. I am proud to clinically lead the service and hope the wider Trust join me in acknowledging the vital work the service does.”

“This team deserves this award as we have just received a heartfelt thank you card from a recently bereaved family. This card highlights how the team has displayed Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust values when caring for this patient in the last few months of his life.

The card reads, 'Thank you is not big enough to express how we feel for the dignified care and support you provided as well as being there for all the family. You helped us navigate our scary and difficult road of caring for dad at home and we could not have carried out his final wishes without your team by our side. We will be forever grateful and speak with NHS pride when telling others, you were part of his story, helping to provide the best quality of life he could have had in the last chapter of his life. I know my dad was also truly grateful to you as I would often hear how he would fondly compliment you all to others, making him feel that he was always respected, valued and not just another patient. He developed a trusting relationship with you all and I know this meant a lot to him at a time he needed specialised nursing care but also friendship and companionship. You have a gift of touching the lives of others and making a difference in such a special way, that is truly inspirational. Forever grateful. With love and blessing the broken hearted family of Mr D.”

“The care and support from this team is truly outstanding. They show unfailing concern and kindness to Long COVID sufferers, enabling us to cope better with all the physical, mental and emotional challenges we experience.

The knowledge of the team members is vast, and they convey it in a way which is accessible and easily understood. They have the patience to repeat their advice and guidance frequently as ‘brain fog’ kicks in.

The quality of care and assistance is excellent in every situation, whether individual consultations with an occupational therapist, physiotherapist, social prescriber, GPs or group services like the recovery and peer support groups. Communication with the service is also excellent, they’re accessible and respond promptly.

Thanks to this team I have hope for the future and am assured that I am not alone, am not imagining or exaggerating my problems and can find help, reassurance, coping mechanisms, friendship and support whenever I need it.

Mersey Care NHS is lucky to have such an invaluable team in its employ and the Long COVID sufferers of Sefton could not be better served than by these wonderful people.”

“Vicky is an amazing member of Halton Mental Health Support Team who always goes above and beyond.

Vicky is a CBT therapist who delivers outstanding care to young people but also a clinical supervisor to the majority within our team. Vicky provides excellent supervision, guiding us to support the young people and families we work with and has a resource to share for everything!

Alongside this, Vicky will always make time to check in on team members and offer additional support if it’s needed. Vicky organises additional opportunities for us to access continuing professional development and develop as a team and is extremely knowledgeable. Vicky is kind, supportive, approachable and always willing to lend a helping hand. We would be lost without Vicky Harris in our team!”

“These family support workers play a vital role within the community mental health teams, bridging the space between service users and professionals, especially when service users are also parents.

Wendy and Angela work extremely hard, covering the whole of Liverpool between them, supporting our most vulnerable families within the community and engaging with them in different ways to help them achieve positive outcomes. The importance of the family support worker role is often overlooked and there should certainly be more within the Community Mental Health Teams to help more families even further.

I think Wendy and Angela deserve to be recognised for all of the hard work they have done over the last 10 years and continue to do, and the huge impact this has in many families lives.”

“Windsor House is a mixed acute inpatient ward based in Liverpool city centre.

The care and compassion the team show to our service users is amazing, the building is a Victorian listed building that has its challenges, but we make it work with experience, skills and expertise.

Most of the service users who have used our services are very complimentary about the care they receive in what they explain to be a homely, warm, family kind of environment. Staff work hard to maintain the positive culture we have at Windsor House and we will all be sad to see Windsor close when we move to the new hospital in 2025.

We aspire to bring the positive culture we have developed and nurtured at Windsor House across to our new ward. Staff go above and beyond every day and I can honestly say I have worked with some of the most caring, kind people in my time at team Windsor. It is a fantastic team and Windsor House is a lovely place to work, we have some very long serving staff to prove it. It would be incredible for the team to be recognised for the fantastic work they do (in the largest mental health acute inpatient ward) before we move to our new home in Mossley Hill.”

“Zoe is a distinguished nursing leader instrumental in advancing three of the Trust’s ‘super six’ strategic intentions: operational and clinical excellence, highly engaged staff, and realising research and innovation benefits.

Zoe has consistently demonstrated her commitment to the Trust by supporting and retaining key talent during a period of career uncertainty. Her intervention through her leadership facilitated significant achievements, including research grant submissions and improved staff recruitment for studies, which have sparked greater interest in research among nursing staff. Zoe’s intervention played a pivotal role in clinical staff, especially mental health nurses like Oladayo securing a national senior leadership award for instance.

Zoe’s leadership has a direct impact on clinical and operational excellence. By supporting a culture of innovation and research, she has contributed to enhanced patient experiences, which has implications for efficient service delivery. Under her guidance, the Trust is better positioned to ensure that patients receive consistently excellent care, regardless of where they access services.

As the Associate Director of Nursing and Patient Experience, Zoe exemplifies the qualities of a leader who not only envisions success but also empowers others to achieve it, driving improvements in both patient care and operational efficiency across the Trust.”