Congratulations to James and Annie, our STAR Award winners

The Health Support Workers both work in the Learning Disability Inpatient Services.

The Trust’s most recent STAR Award has been awarded to Annie Leiper and James Cook.

The Health Support Workers were highlighted as being ‘passionate’ and ‘respectful’ in the nomination by their Ward Manager, Lindsey Hoather.

Lindsey said: “I nominated Annie and James because they show great respect to service users and colleagues on a daily basis. They are passionate about improving the service itself and service users’ experiences.

“They respond to individual needs, taking the time to learn and understand the unique and complex way service users communicate.”

The Learning Disability Inpatient Services based at Parkside Lodge provides an acute assessment and treatment service within an inpatient setting.

The nomination referenced Annie and James’ work with a service user who had very limited communication skills and needed to make his needs known through the use of Makaton signs (hand gestures) and a picture exchange communication system. On admission he had shown extreme challenging behaviour and significant signs of distress.

Annie and James spent hours working closely with him, talking to staff and seeking support from speech and language therapists to help others understand his behaviours.

James said: “The work with this particular service user has definitely changed his life. He now has a different way of communicating. It’s personalised for him and he understands it better.”

They redesigned the communication aids he uses and took another look at his daily routine to better suit his needs. They then spent time relaying all this vital information to each individual involved in his care to ensure consistency.

Lindsey said: “Annie and James are superb examples of someone you would be happy to leave a family member with to be cared for. This is a great example of when they have worked above and beyond. I feel they not only benefit the service but have improved this young man’s life.”

The award was presented to the duo by Angela Earnshaw, Head of Learning and Organisational Development at the Trust.

Annie said: “It’s nice to be recognised for our hard work with a STAR Award. The people we work with need help to communicate differently but what’s most important is that it needs to be right for the service user.”