NHS Leadership Recognition win for Barnsley psychotherapist
A consultant psychotherapist at South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust who prides herself on creating a positive culture within her team has been recognised with a highly-regarded award win.
Caroline Williams is the clinical lead in the mental health access team in Barnsley and was nominated by colleagues for the regional NHS Leadership Recognition Awards 2014. She was chosen as a winner in the ‘development champion of the year’ category at a special ceremony in Leeds on 3 December.
The Yorkshire and the Humber NHS Leadership Recognition Awards celebrate people at all levels and in all professions who have ultimately improved people’s health and the public’s experience of the NHS.
Caroline’s work to create an operational policy for her team secured her the win, after evidence showed that the policy had a positive impact on the service. The mental health access team aims to improve access to psychological therapy and treatment for people with mild to moderate anxiety and depression.
Hosts at the awards ceremony said the judges were looking for someone who pays extreme attention to detail, falls under the radar but develops others, and who changes cultures through innovation.
Speaking of her win, Caroline said: “I felt so shocked and stunned when my name was announced, I couldn’t believe it. When I realised the impact and how much of a big deal it was, it validated the values I’d brought to the team and has encouraged me to build on them.
“I created the policy to distil all the contemporary thinking around our type of mental health service – if we all have one document, we are all doing the same thing, and can hold each other to account. Creating the policy developed a consistent culture based around NHS values, and winning the award just proved that other people value it as much as we do.”
Caroline credited the support of her team as the driving force behind her success, saying: “I could not have won this award without the team. You can push change as much as you like but if people don’t want to change you will never get anywhere. The team are so motivated to grow and this brings out my strengths. They know where they want to go but just need that person to help them steer and negotiate the course – and it’s been a pleasure to lead them. It’s an amazing team to work in.”
Trust chief executive Steven Michael OBE said: “Caroline’s work within her team made a huge difference to the way they work and the efficiency of their service. For her efforts to be recognised in this way is great news for the Trust and we are very pleased to hear of her win.”
As a winner at the regional awards, Caroline will now automatically be entered into the National Recognition Awards ceremony in 2015.