A dedicated Nursing Consultant Manager from a Tewkesbury GP practice has won an award for outstanding efforts during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Anne Williams from Church Street Medical, has been presented with a Hidden Heroes award for ‘Outstanding Performance during the Pandemic.’
The Hidden Heroes initiative was established by four companies who are playing a key role in supporting general practice during the pandemic – Dene Healthcare, Gama Healthcare, Interface Clinical Services and Practice Index.
The aim was to identify some of the excellent individuals and teams who may escape public recognition, as well as highlighting the incredible work that often goes unnoticed.
Anne, who is based at Church Street Medical, also manages nursing teams at two other practices in the Church Street Partnership – West Cheltenham and Crescent Bakery.
She has worked tirelessly in collaboration with the Mythe (GP Practice) team in setting up and running the COVID-19 Community Vaccination Hub at The Deveruex Centre.
Since December she has often worked seven days a week to manage and support the team. This highly successful collaboration has resulted in delivery of over 20,000 COVID-19 vaccinations.
Anne said: “This award is about more than just me. It is about the teams across both Church Street and Mythe coming together with our wonderful team of volunteers and providing a service for our community. I am extremely proud of what we have achieved and it is something we plan to roll out in the future. We are looking at running our flu clinics together due to the success of our COVID clinics.’
Kirsty White, Practice Manager at Church Street Medical said: “2020 was a hard year for most. It has brought enormous challenges for primary care and it is so important to recognise the incredible work that has been done in general practice, both in leading the vaccination programme and in maintaining day to day care for our patients.
“I am incredibly proud of what Anne and the team has achieved and hopefully the team can see that their contribution, during the most difficult period, hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“We have achieved so much and are so proud of our success for the local community. I would personally like to thank everyone in our three practices. Without the hard work and dedication from our reception, admin and clinical teams we would have not achieved what we have done over the past 15 months.”
Helen Goodey, Director of Locality Development and Primary Care at NHS Gloucestershire CCG said:
“Practice staff have worked above and beyond and it’s important to acknowledge that they have played a hugely important role in delivering our vaccination programme while ensuring practices run smoothly. They deserve recognition for all they have done and should be proud of their achievements.”