THE work of staff at Somerset Partnership NHS trust was celebrated at its annual staff awards ceremony.

About 150 members of staff were nominated for an award. Members of the public and trust patients were also asked for the first time to nominate staff they thought had gone the extra mile for a dedicated Patient and Carers Choice Award.

Staff from Chard and Ilminster were among those recognised:

  • For commitment to quality: Mary Martin, professional lead district nursing, based at Chard Community Hospital, for putting her patients at the centre of everything she does, particularly during the floods last winter.
  •  For compassion in care: Fiona Grant, Julie Fussell, Pamela Hutchinson and Karen Coffin from the See Something Say Something Team for working extremely hard to ensure that the campaign to empower staff in speaking out when things go wrong engaged staff at every level and made a difference to the lives of patients.
  • For dignity in care: Jason Weetch, memory assessment service nurse, and Carey Workman, community psychiatric nurse, based at Magnolia House, for their work in Chard to raise awareness of people with dementia and delivering awareness training to more than 1,200 health and social care professionals.

Somerset Partnership chief executive Edward Colgan congratulated the winners.

He said “I am delighted to be able to recognise the dedication and commitment that is evident in these staff awards. I am pleased, on behalf of the trust board, to recognise the outstanding contribution and excellent care provided by these staff – they make a real difference to our patients’ lives.

“I am particularly pleased that this year’s awards have attracted a recordbreaking number of nominations.

“It shows that even in these challenging times for the NHS, our staff still take great pride in what they do and continue to put our patients first.”