The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust hosted its annual Committed to Excellence Awards on Friday 11th July at The Copthorne Hotel. This event honours the exceptional dedication, tireless efforts, and compassionate care demonstrated by incredible staff and volunteers throughout the past year.
Out of the 800 nominations that were submitted for this year’s awards, 17 individuals and teams were shortlisted for various categories.
Among the standout winners was the Paediatric Emergency Department, who took home the award for Best Use of Charitable Funds—a well-deserved recognition of their dedication to improving care for young patients.
Their nomination highlighted a transformative project. The Paediatric Emergency Department used a £10,000 charity grant from Tesco’s Bags for Help scheme to upgrade one of their cubicles into a dedicated sensory space for children with special needs. Friendly visuals and sensory equipment are invaluable in reducing anxiety in severely distressed youngsters, and the space provides comfort and distraction for any child in need during their hospital visit.
The initiative was led by the Dudley Group NHS Charity team and Becky, the department’s lead nurse, who collaborated with the estates team, PFI partners, and a professional wall art company to bring the vision to life. Building on this success, the department is now partnering with the charity to refurbish the remaining cubicles.
Gemma Powell, deputy matron of Emergency Department, said “Charitable donations have helped us to transform one of our cubicles in the Paediatrics Emergency Department enabling us to have a dedicated sensory cubicle for children attending who have additional needs, without the support of the Dudley Group NHS Charity we would never have been able to do this. Feedback from parents, carers and children has been amazing and it is a welcomed distraction for children who are unwell.
To be nominated for an award was a real morale boost, to go on to win the award was incredible and means so much to the staff working in the Paediatrics Emergency Department”.
With support from the Dudley Group NHS Charity, the event was kindly sponsored by Summit, the gold sponsor, Mitie and Altera Digital Health, the silver sponsors and University of Worcester, How to Find a Care Home and Hill Dickinsons, the bronze sponsors. A heartfelt thank you to them for helping to make the event possible and for presenting some of the awards to deserving Trust colleagues.
David Jones, Associate Director – Operations for Summit Healthcare, said “As a long-term partner of the Trust and the Dudley Group NHS Charity, Summit was delighted to sponsor the Trust Committed to Excellence Awards again this year and we are proud to support and celebrate the remarkable achievements of all staff and volunteers. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners.”
A raffle was also held during the evening, and thanks to the generosity of those who attended, an impressive £2,385 was raised for the Dudley Group NHS Charity. A big thank you goes out to the local businesses that donated prizes for the event including Full Throttle Raceway, Redefine Hair & Beauty and Bella Italia.
The charity has their annual Glitter Ball event on the 25th September. If you would like to know more about the charity and sponsorship opportunities, please contact dgft.fundraising@nhs.net.
