This year’s Admin Week took place from Monday 2 December to Friday 6 December.
In its third year, UHB dedicated a week to celebrate our incredible admin colleagues who work across our hospitals and services. Often described as the bankbone of the NHS, the work of our admin colleagues touches most, if not all, areas of our Trust.
The week will consisted of:
- An opening event held on MS teams on the morning of Monday 2 December
- The launch of the new Admin Base SharePoint site
- A jam-packed week of learning and development opportunities
- Admin Awards ceremony on Friday 6 December
Admin Awards
Now in their third year, our Admin Awards help to recognise and shine a light on our amazing admin colleagues who go above and beyond.
The quality of nominations was exceedingly high and this year we received over 300 nominations across the nine categories and received 480 votes for the People’s Choice Award.
The winners were all announced at our Admin Awards ceremony on Friday 6 December.
Find out all our winners and why they won below.
Newcomer of the Year Award
This award which celebrates an administrative professional new to the administrative profession at UHB.
The shortlisted nominees are:
- Eniola Alimi, Pathway Management Co-ordinator, Solihull Hospital
- Kirby Wheeler, Community MSK Services, Chemsley Wood Primary Care Centre
- Laura Gray, Facilities, Heartlands Hospital
- Martin Pope, The Emergency Department, Good Hope Hospital
- Sanjeev Mahay, Respiratory Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
The winner is...
Eniola Alimi
Winning nomination:
Eniola’s work ethic is described as exceptional, she strives to make a difference every day within her team at Solihull Hospital. She supports the work to ensure patients are seen as quickly as possible. Her nomination said that she is always keen to make suggestions and to bring a new perspective where she feels any change to can be made to improve the work we do. She is a pleasure to work with!
Inspirational Award
This award recognises the administrative professional that best demonstrates qualities such as confidence, integrity, and a passion for helping colleagues to succeed.
The Shortlisted nominees are:
- Laura Forbes, Housekeeping, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
- Mark Dolphin, Logistics, Heartlands Hospital
- Monica Jankie, Ward 18, Heartlands Hospital
- Sarah McGuinness, Wellcome Ward, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
- Tracy Jones, Infectious Diseases, Heartlands Hospital
The winner is...
The standard of nominations was so high in this category that the judges couldn’t pick just one winner. So there are two winners in this category.
Monica Jankie and Sarah McGuinness
Winning nominations:
Monica
Monica is very generous with her time and her enthusiasm filled me with optimism. I can see how many people feel overwhelmed when starting with the trust, due to everyone being busy but Monica was very generous with her time and she always helped. I have seen her assist everyone on the ward, be it kitchen staff, nurses, managers, Doctors or families, she is always very helpful, kind and compassionate. Everyone knows Monica on Ward 18 is the person to go to.”
Sarah
Sarah was my trainer and mentor when I started work for the Trust as a brand-new Ward Administrator in December 2023. She was unfailingly patient and thorough with her training, even when I asked a ton of basic questions. Throughout the past year she has supported me when I needed help and is always generous with her time when I need advice.
I believe Sarah thoroughly deserves this Award - she certainly inspired me to become the best Ward Admin I could be and continues to inspire me to this day.
Bold Award
This award recognises the high performing administrative professional that has successfully managed a significant project that has had a positive, department-wide impact within the past 2 years.
The shortlisted nominees are:
- Angela Harrison, Care of Older People, Good Hope Hospital
- Dawn Donnelly, Infectious diseases, Heartlands Hospital
- Louise Marklew, Therapies, Heartlands Hospital
- Sandra Close, ED Team Leader, ED, Heartlands Hospital
- Stephanie Copland, Rheumatology, Solihull Hospital
The winner is...
Sandra Close
Winning nomination:
Sandra is not afraid to speak up and advocate for the safety, care, and wellbeing of herself and others. She takes the time to listen to her colleagues and provides them with a safe space to share any worries or provide feedback on how to improve. At times when faced with challenging situations with patients, she ensures her colleagues and other patients are safe and supported.
The Spirit Award
The Spirit Award celebrates the administrative professional that consistently exhibits a positive, optimistic outlook that people find contagious and uplifting.
The shortlisted nominees are:
- Faye Ogunfiande, Outpatients, 163 Yardley Green Road
- Janet Kennedy, Community Therapies Administrator, Friars Gate
- Jayne Maley, Maternity Education Team.
- Kirenjeet Kundi, Endocrinology, Heartlands Hospital
- Roshni Lad, Orthotics, Good Hope Hospital
The winner is...
Winning nomination:
Roshni is a joy to work with always looking out for others including patients and staff members. Roshni always brings a high level of energy to her role and is enthusiastic about her work.
Roshni is always positive at work and gets involved with a lot of wellbeing activities within Radiology. She is always there for support when you need her and believe that she deserves this award for her hard work and effort she puts in on a day to day basis.
The Outstanding Contribution Award
The Outstanding Contribution Award is an individual award presented to an administrative professional that has made an outstanding contribution to the NHS during their career to date.
The shortlisted nominees are:
- Barbara Ball, Outpatients Reception, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
- Gary Smith, Solihull Community Spinal Physiotherapy Team, Chelmsley Wood Primary Care Centre.
- Janet Bourne, Health Care Careers and Development, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
- Kim Robinson, Imaging, Heartlands Hospital.
- Pauline White, Therapies, Heartlands Hospital.
The winner is...
Pauline White
Winning nomination:
There were quite a few nominations for Pauline but to summarise them:
Pauline always goes out of her way to help everyone.
Pauline has a special personality not seen very often, her friendliness yet high ability to do the job provide a sense of warmth, reassurance and familiarity to everyone from the student, new starters and to the long-standing members of the department.
We have been very lucky to have such a wonderful member of staff to help support us in the department.
The ‘Going above and Beyond’ Award
The Going above and Beyond Award honours an individual Administrative Professional that does goes that extra mile to assist a team/service/colleague/patient in their role.
The shortlisted nominees are:
- Ann Penson, Cardiology, Heartlands Hospital
- Dorota Korszla, Decontamination, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
- Joanne Titcombe, Community Podiatry, Crab Tree Drive
- Julie Larbey, School of Nursing, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
- Kelly Fitzpatrick, Medical Secretary, Cardiology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
The winner is...
Kelly Fitzpatrick
Winning nomination:
Kelly always works tirelessly in relation to the admin side of the Midland Amyloid Service, which has expanded massively over the last five years. She does this on her own, ensuring that all aspects of this multi-disciplinary team are covered. Kelly also looks after Dr Moody's other cardiology patients, looking after multiple clinics at the same time. Without her, these services would not be as efficient as they are.
Administrative Team of the Year Award
The prestigious Administrative Team of the Year Award recognises a team who go above and beyond to provide a first-class service for the benefit of patients, staff, visitors or our partners.
The shortlisted nominees are:
- Cellular Pathology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Heartlands Hospital
- Complex Discharge Hubs, All hospital sites
- Clinical Management Team, 163 Yardley Green Road
- Emergency Department Ward Clerks, All sites
- Interpreting services, Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Heartlands Hospital
- The Liver Unit team, Medicine, Surgery and Transplant Admin Team, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
The winner is...
Cellular Pathology
Winning nomination:
The team are the backbone of daily operations, handling tasks that keep everything running smoothly.
They have made some transformative changes over the past six months, and have supported each other with kindness and compassion on both a personal and professional level. It has been wonderful to watch the team members build relationships with each other on the separate sites and have expressed interest to visit the opposite site to help strengthen these relationships further and understand the challenges.
Admin Leader of the Year
This new award category recognises a leader of an admin team or function, who truly deserves some recognition for their excellent leadership.
- How this individual leader embodies our values of Kind, Connected and Bold in their leadership style
- What impact have they had on their team
The shortlisted nominees are:
- David Allbones, Critical Care, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
- Donna Jarrett, Respiratory Physiotherapy Outpatients’, Good Hope
- Katie Parker, Healthcare Careers and Development, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
- Sarah Magson, Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
- Thelma Brown, Education Centre, Heartlands Hospital
The winner is...
Winning nomination:
Donna’s outstanding contributions to the success and functioning of the Respiratory Physiotherapy Outpatients and Pulmonary Rehabilitation Team. Throughout her time as our Pulmonary Rehabilitation co-ordinator for the team, Donna has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership, dedication, and organisational skills that have significantly impacted our teams ability to serve our patients.
Beyond the technical aspects of her role, Donna leads with integrity, kindness, and an unwavering commitment to excellence. She embodies the Trust values of Kind, Connected, Bold in everything she does, and her influence has undoubtedly inspired others to reach for the same high standards.
People’s Choice Award
The People’s Choice Award is an award that has been created for any staff member at UHB to nominate an Administrative Professional or Administrative Team that has been recognised simply as ‘being the best at what they do’. We have received nearly 500 votes in total for this award which is amazing.
The shortlisted nominees are:
- Donna Oswell, ENT, Heartlands
- Donna Jarret, Respiratory Physiotherapy Outpatients’, Good Hope
- Gulshan Bi, Professional Development and Education Team, Queen Elizabeth Hospital
- Kerry Underwood, Physiotherapy, Solihull Hospital
- Laura Forbes, Housekeeping Team, QE
- Pauline White, Therapies, Heartlands Hospital
- Rachael Henn, Strategic Projects Team and Freedom to Speak Up team
- Sharmaine Hanson, Edgbaston Ward
The winner is...
Donna Oswell
Winning nomination:
Donna exemplifies the true spirit of an outstanding administrative professional within the NHS. She goes above and creating an environment of support, care, and warmth for everyone around her. she consistently demonstrates a level of dedication and kindness that makes her an irreplaceable part of the team.
What truly sets Donna apart, however, is her passion for creating a workplace that feels like a community. Donna works tirelessly to make sure everyone, from new recruits to senior staff, feels supported and valued.
UHB's Admin Base
During Admin week the new Admin Base SharePoint site was launched.
The Admin Base has been set-up in response to feedback we received as part of Admin Week 2023. UHB Admin's said that they wanted to have a space that was just for those working in admin to share expertise and resources.
Admin Base has been designed by admin colleagues for admin colleagues, so whether you are new to UHB, new to an admin role or are an established member of our admin teams, you will find a wealth of useful information on here.
The site is yours and will be managed by a group of Site Administrators who will review and manage new content. If there is something missing or you think there is something that would make it better, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and someone from the team will be in touch.
Week of learning and development opportunities
Excel, N365, application writing and IT qualifications are just some of the sessions that was available throughout the week. Check out the calendar for more details, and how you can catch sessions you may have missed.