Trust Values in Action: Celebrating July staff and team highlights

At Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, we’re proud to celebrate the incredible work of our teams and individuals who go above and beyond to deliver compassionate, high-quality care.

Individual of the Month – Staff Nurse, Lauren Bolton

Staff nurse Lauren Bolton has been named Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s Individual of the Month for April 2026, in recognition of her outstanding commitment to supporting service users, colleagues and student nurses.

Lauren was nominated by Abigail Bissett, Clinical Team Manager, who highlighted the positive impact she makes every day through her dedication, leadership and compassionate approach to care. Abigail praised Lauren for consistently going above and beyond, ensuring service users are actively involved in their care and supporting colleagues across the ward.
A key part of Lauren’s contribution has been improving the experience of student nurses during their placements. She has developed new ways of working to ensure students receive the best possible learning opportunities, resulting in excellent feedback and helping to shape the future nursing workforce.

Lauren is also recognised for making processes simpler and more accessible for both staff and service users. From arranging interpreters to ensure patients can fully participate in one-to-one sessions and care planning, to creating practical resources for staff and leading focus groups, her work has encouraged positive changes across the ward team.

The award judges were impressed by Lauren’s commitment and influence, commenting:
“Goes above and beyond. Empowers student nurses. Dignity and respect for all professionals. Transparent and open with service-users. Ensures service user engagement with care plans. Ensures things are kept moving. Positive influence. Embodying good practice. Empathic and supportive. Strong team member. Conscientious. Builds team, strong personal knowledge, interpersonal and educational skills.”

They also added:

“Committed to improving the patient experience and values whole team learning. Well regarded by the team.”

Lauren’s nomination highlighted her approachable nature and willingness to support others, whether through clinical supervision, assisting colleagues with reports, covering meetings or helping to drive improvements in ward culture and patient experience. Her colleagues described her as someone who leads by example and consistently embodies the Trust’s values of integrity, simplicity and caring.

Congratulations to Lauren on this well-deserved recognition and thank you for the difference you make to service users, colleagues and students every day.

Team of the Month – West and South CLDT

The West and South Community Learning Disability Team (CLDT) has been named Team of the Month for May 2026 in recognition of the outstanding care, compassion and support they provided to a service user, their family and care team during a difficult end-of-life journey.

The team was nominated after a family member of a service user took the time to write and express their gratitude following the death of their brother, who had a learning disability and dementia. Despite their loss, they wanted to acknowledge the significant impact the team had made throughout his care.

In their feedback, the family praised the team’s person-centred approach and the way staff worked alongside professional carers and relatives to provide the best possible support. They highlighted how the team recognised the expertise and knowledge of those providing day-to-day care while bringing their own specialist skills and experience to enhance the support available.

The nomination recognised the team’s commitment to demonstrating the Trust’s values throughout a particularly challenging time. By treating the service user, family and carers with dignity and respect, working collaboratively with partners and providing compassionate support, the team made a meaningful difference when it mattered most.

The nominator reflected that supporting people to have a dignified death, while helping families and carers through grief and loss, is one of the greatest gifts healthcare staff can provide. They praised the West and South CLDT for delivering this care quietly, diligently and compassionately, and for consistently providing person-centred support of the highest standard.

The family shared:

“They looked after [my brother], the staff team caring for him and also provided significant support to us as a family. They worked alongside the care team recognising their expertise and detailed knowledge of [my brother] whilst augmenting his care with their own knowledge and skills.”
Congratulations to everyone in the West and South CLDT on this well-deserved recognition, and thank you for the care, kindness and expertise you provide to service users and families every day.