Awards celebrate Newark Hospital excellence on NHS birthday

A Newark Hospital volunteer has been recognised for her outstanding efforts in Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust’s annual Excellence Awards – on the 75^th birthday of the NHS. 

Pam Weir, who has volunteered at Newark Hospital for an impressive 22 years and currently supports the hospital’s Radiology department, won the Volunteer of the Year award for going above and beyond in all that she does. Pam always greets people with a smile and puts patients at ease by treating them with courtesy and respect. 

Pam said: “It’s amazing to win. I never win anything – not even a raffle! The colleagues I work with are great and have been so supportive since I lost my husband, who was also a volunteer at the hospital.” 

The Trust would not be able to function without the incredible efforts of its team of volunteers and the Volunteer of the Year award aims to honour those individuals for their dedication to their role over the past 12 months. Nearly 400 volunteers provide much-needed support to Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust to help keep its vital services running and volunteers provide an average of 967 hours of support to patients and staff each week, which equates to 50,284 hours per year. 

Jo Thornley, Community Involvement Manager at Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust, said: “Volunteers provide a valuable service to patients, visitors, and staff and I’m so pleased that we get to honour them with this award. I would like to extend my congratulations to Pam for her well-deserved win. Thank you, Pam, for all that you do for your colleagues here at Newark Hospital, it certainly doesn’t go unnoticed.” 

The Community Partner of the Year Award was presented to Matthew Lamb, Director of Newark and Sherwood District Council, for the support the district council provides working in partnership with the Trust to improve healthcare services for local communities. 

Newark Hospital has earned the reputation of being a friendly and welcoming place for both patients and staff due to the efforts of its dedicated team of colleagues and volunteers. Other Newark Hospital colleagues shortlisted for awards include:

• Volunteers John and Jill Dawson, who were nominated for the Volunteer of the Year award for exuding genuine warmth, good humour and going the extra mile.
• Clinical Lead at Newark Urgent Treatment Centre, Mr Ranjan Chowdhary who was nominated for the Lifetime Achievement Award and has been described as the glue holding the Newark Urgent Care team together.
• Sconce Ward leader Kerry Hazard, who was nominated in the Nursing, Midwifery & AHP Individual of the Year category for her passionate dedication to patient care.

The Excellence Awards take place each year to honour colleagues and community partners who go above and beyond for the Trust and the ceremony, held at the John Fretwell Sporting Complex near Mansfield, was the first since 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A wonderful evening was had by all, and it was great to see so many people in attendance to celebrate the winners and their fantastic achievements.

David Ainsworth, Director of Strategy and Partnerships at the Trust, who oversees the running of Newark Hospital, said: “Congratulations to Pam for winning the Volunteer of the Year award, she truly embodies the values of our Trust. Volunteers are vital to the running of our hospitals, and it’s fantastic that we get to honour Pam with this award.

“Congratulations also to Matthew and Newark and Sherwood District Council for being a fantastic community partner. This is a great example of the importance of partnership working, which means we can achieve more together than we can separately.

“The nominations relating to Newark Hospital reflect the welcoming and kind nature of our colleagues and reiterates that Newark Hospital is a great place to work and receive treatment.”

Please find a full list of winners below:

Multidisciplinary Team of the Year Award - Maternity and the Badgernet Project Implementation Team

Most Improved Team Award - Emergency Assessment Unit (EAU)

Chris McFarlane Award - Samantha Dales

Rising Star Award - Rachel Grzelak

Non-Clinical Team of the Year Award - Sterile Services Team

Non-Clinical Individual of the Year - Paul Holt

Nursing, Midwifery & AHP Team - The Early Pregnancy Unit (Rainbow Clinic)

Nursing, Midwifery & AHP Individual - Emma Gregory

Doctor and Consultant Team - Acute Medicine

Doctor and Consultant Individual - Amit Jaiswal

Specialist Healthcare Team - Medical Equipment Management Department

Specialist Healthcare Individual - Jodie Prest

Volunteer of the Year - Pam Weir

Lifetime Achievement Award - Gerrie Edwards

Community Hero Award - Nikki Slack, West Nottinghamshire College

Community Partner of the Year - Matthew Lamb, Director of Newark and Sherwood District Council

CARE Award - Emma Strawther

The Chair Award - Emily Harris Foundation

The People's Award sponsored by The Chad - Margaret King

The full release can be found on our website.