Hardworking nursing teams in Gloucestershire have scooped four regional awards in recognition of the efforts they’re making to improve the health and care of people living in the county.

Staff from Cheltenham, Tewkesbury, Bishop’s Cleeve and across the wider county were among the winners at the NHS England South West General Practice Nursing Awards, picking up wins for Patient Centred Innovation, Workforce Practice Innovation, and Leadership, as well as a special one-off Judges’ Award.

Nurses from two further Cheltenham practices were also nominated for awards at the ceremony which celebrates outstanding practice and innovation in nursing across the whole of the South West.

Marion Andrews-Evans, Executive Chief Nurse at NHS Gloucestershire said:

“We are delighted to see so many local nurses and teams recognised for their work. Our NHS nurses in Gloucestershire are leading the way when it comes to innovative ways of supporting patients and working with partners across health and social care to improve the lives of those living in the county.

“All of our nurses who won and were nominated for awards should be rightly proud of their efforts.”

Leadership Award Highly Commended: Sarah Gallagher, Vaccination Programme Clinical Lead NHS Gloucestershire

One of the driving forces behind Gloucestershire’s COVID-19 vaccination response, Sarah Gallagher was recognised for the hard work she has invested in ensuring jabs and boosters were available to people living in the county.

She said:

“I was proud to help organise the vaccine rollout across 17 GP practices which included overseeing the delivery of more 320,000 COVID vaccines at Cheltenham Fire Station.

“I am also heading up a National project called ‘Access to All Gloucestershire’ which is looking to increase uptake of vaccinations across the board. So far, we have attempted contact with 1,000 parents to try and increase the uptake of MMR in children, making 290 appointments.” 

Judges’ Award winner: Stoke Road Surgery, Bishop’s Cleeve

Members of Stoke Road Surgery’s nursing team have faced some of the biggest challenges of their lives and still continue to provide high quality care for their patients.

For the surgery’s 10,000 patients there was little clue that the practice nursing team were facing huge challenges. Tests, treatment and triaging carried on as normal but behind the scenes things weren’t so simple.

Lead nurse Kathryn Ashmore explained:

“We lost several members of staff for various reasons; to retirement, to promotion and to long term illness. We just had to keep going.

“We are really proud to have continued to carry out screenings and vaccinations and train student nurses during this time.

“The continuity of care was so important to us, we’ve kept a straight ship. It has been a lot, but the team have been amazing.”

It was this resilience that saw the nursing team from Stoke Road awarded a special Judges’ Award, to recognise how they’ve risen above adversity and continued to put their patients first.

For the team, made up of Sara Jones, Chloe Fletcher, Hannah Murphy, Rachel Camm, phlebotomy nurse Wendy Biggs and Healthcare Assistant Amba Houston, the award allowed them time to reflect on what they’ve achieved.

Kathryn said:

“The team here is like no other, it is a family and we look after each other. Wellbeing is at the forefront of everything at the practice which helps us go above and beyond. We have had support from NHS Gloucestershire and the Primary Care Network and of course the partners at the surgery and the admin staff who have also handed out coffee and hugs.

“The award was a surprise – it was the last one of the night and we weren’t expecting it.”

Patient Centred Innovation Award Winner: Tewkesbury, West Cheltenham, Newent and Staunton PCN Health and Wellbeing Team

The primary care team working across Tewkesbury, the west of Cheltenham, Newent and Staunton have been recognised for a unique, proactive and patient centred approach to managing the needs of older patients.

The TWNS Primary Care Network’s (PCN – group of GP practices working together with community services) Health and Wellbeing Team work together with local partners to provide tailored care for over 65s.

More than 11,000 patients were identified from GP lists and contacted as part of the project. Tewkesbury’s proactive Health and Wellbeing Team have been working with those older members of the community to identify early signs of frailty and support those who need extra help.

The team is made up of Chris Allen (Health and wellbeing coach), Anne Williams (Senior nurse and Lead) and Bev Paxton (Health and wellbeing coach), who work with and refer to social prescribing link workers, community NHS services – including falls clinics and physiotherapy, adult social care support services, Age UK, Alzheimer’s Society, dementia nurses, weight loss services, mental health nurses, GPs and cancer support nurses to name just a few.

After speaking to patients, the team mapped all existing services and support options in the local area and found gaps, the next step was trying to fill them. So far, this has included setting up new weekly strength and balance classes, tailored exercise plans for patients with obesity, pre-diabetes and diabetes and working side by side with the Social Prescribing link worker team.

Dr Jeremy Welch, one of the Tewkesbury GPs working with the team said:

“The team are incredibly proud and humbled to have received the award for Primary Care Nursing Innovation. As a GP supporting the team, I have been blown away by the sheer magnitude of their achievements and the positive impact it has had on so many lives.”

Workforce Practice Innovation Award Winner: Sarah Rogers, Lead Nurse Gloucestershire Primary Care Training Hub

Giving student nurses first-hand experience of primary care and helping practices see more patients are just two of the wins Gloucestershire’s Nurses on Tour scheme has seen so far.

With more than 300 patients given full health checks by a team of student nurses on the NHS Gloucestershire health bus, the project is already picking up patients who may fall between the gaps – around 40% of those seen were identified as having high blood pressure. It is also giving trainee nurses a chance to understand and experience community roles, with several going on to work within primary care.

Sarah Rogers, Lead Nurse for the Gloucestershire Primary Care Training Hub, said she didn’t expect to win on the night.

 “It was a huge surprise, there were really strong candidates in the category, there were projects in Cornwall, Devon and Dorset and so much good work going on. When they read my name I was really humbled by it.”