Local Bury staff have been named Northern Care Alliance NHS (NCA) Foundation Trust Staff Award winners.
On Friday, December 3, unsuspecting winners were joined in their workplace by NCA directors who paid tribute to their amazing contribution to the organisation.
Fairfield General’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Consultant, Dr Jay Naisbitt was surprised in the middle of a shift by Chairman Professor Michael Luger.
Professor Luger presented him with the Chairman’s Award. Dr Naisbitt, who works in ICU at both Fairfield General Hospital and Salford Royal, won the award for being a guiding light in Fairfield’s work to integrate research into routine practice and facilitating patient participation in urgent public health studies.
His other achievements included building a team drawn from respiratory medicine, anaesthesia and critical care, who then worked together to break down traditional departmental boundaries to rapidly design and deliver new pathways of care.
Dr Naisbitt and his colleagues were also the first in the UK to start the RECOVERY-RS trial, which is the largest global non-invasive respiratory support trial for COVID-19. The trial involved comparing the effectiveness of three ventilation methods.
Upon receiving the award, he said: “Although this award is individual, I am just a representative of the wider team that continues to support both COVID and non-COVID patients across the NCA. It recognises our achievements both within critical care and respiratory medicine in delivering better than expected outcomes throughout the pandemic and the pivotal role research has taken in improving the quality of care delivered to our patients and their loved ones.”
Also successful, were Fairfield General’s Theatres Team. They found out they had won the NCA’s Team of the Year due to their incredible response to the pandemic, transforming their department into an Intensive Care Unit almost overnight.
Tracy Jenkinson, Lead Nurse on the department, received the award on behalf of the team. She said: “I’m just overwhelmed, we all are really. It’s just such a fantastic achievement after everything we’ve been through. Our team have been so resilient, and we’ve pulled together so well, whether we’re nursing colleagues, surgeons, anaesthetists or one of our many and varied support staff. I feel like a proud mum today and I’m so happy that the team have been recognised for their fantastic efforts. It’s brilliant.”