Heroic acts recognised with CARE Awards

Wednesday 3 August 2016


Tamsin Townly

From delivering a baby down on the lower ground floor, to saving a man’s life up on the roof – the stories behind the last round of CARE Awards demonstrate the extraordinary commitment and courage of staff across the Trust.

Staff were presented with the awards at the Trust Board meeting on Wednesday 27 July.

Tamsin Townly, staff nurse, Page High Dependency Unit (HDU)

On arrival to work via the lower ground floor at St Thomas’, Tamsin discovered a woman in labour, with a very distressed husband. Tamsin was joined by two nurses from Evelina London and together they managed to calm and reassure her husband. They asked a passing security guard to put out a crash call to get help, as none of them had ever delivered a baby before. However, before help arrived, they had safely delivered a beautiful little girl, which they swaddled in Tamsin’s cardigan.

Idris Bary, security officer, and Karen Edwards, site nurse practitioner

Idris and Karen worked as a team to save a life. When a man was reported to be on the roof of South Wing, they climbed up ladders and across hazardous parts of the roof to get to the man who was contemplating jumping off. They talked and talked to him and when he started to cry, Karen asked if he wanted a tissue. As Idris passed one to him he wrapped his arms through the man’s arms to pull him back. They then persuaded him to go to A&E.

Katie Nie and Wendy Cordwell, administration staff in the Knowledge and Information Centre (KiC)

Katie and Wendy were nominated by a patient who said ‘I have been a daily visitor for the past nine weeks. The KiC is a place of kindness, care, friendship and knowledge. The care and help given by Katie and Wendy has been a Godsend. I could not have got through this difficult time without their help. The KiC is a sanctuary.’

Red Cross team

There were several nominations for the Red Cross team. One nomination read: ‘Our department has recently been using Red Cross to support patients when they are ready to leave the ward. They provide an amazingly flexible, invaluable service in getting patients out of hospital faster and reducing length of time spent in hospital.…It appears that no job is too big (or small), and they are happy to take on all sorts of challenges which is a great.’

Andy Hill, site portering manager

When Andy witnessed a traffic accident outside St Thomas’, he stopped his motorbike and prevented the traffic causing any more damage. A scooter driver had been knocked off his vehicle by a taxi driver bringing a patient to St Thomas’. Andy ensured that the scooter driver was taken to A&E, put the scooter in a safe place, and gave him video footage of the crash from his own camera. He also tracked down the patient in the taxi to ensure she was ok. Both the patient and the scooter driver were very grateful, the latter saying 'Can I just say a big thank you for your care and attention outside St Thomas’ this morning. The accident was a big shock and to have you to help meant a lot.’

Do you have a nomination?

CARE awards are the monthly scheme designed to recognise teams and individuals who have:

  • made substantial contributions to the quality of care provided to patients
  • delivered exceptional levels of work performance or delivered increased benefits to the Trust
  • gone the 'extra mile' or 'beyond the call of duty' to provide an exceptional service for staff and/or patients
  • exemplified the core values of the Trust

The awards are open to all hospital and community staff and volunteers, either in clinical or in support roles. Nominations can be made by colleagues, patients, volunteers and visitors. Find out more about our CARE awards.

Last updated: October 2023

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