Unsung hero Helen nominated as leader of the year

Our patient safety manager Helen Roberts has been shortlisted as ‘Leader of the year’ in the national Unsung Hero Awards 2019.

The annual Unsung Hero Awards recognise the contributions non-medical staff and volunteers make to the NHS. Non-medical employees make up almost half of the NHS workforce.

Helen was nominated for her commitment to making sure that patient safety is central to everything we do. She is passionate about people learning from experiences and is dedicated to exploring opportunities to make learning from incidents easier. Helen is passionate about learning from deaths through leading our mortality programme.

Helen was also the force behind the rollout of safety huddles – daily 5-10 minute discussions where team members gather to focus on keeping patients safe and reducing harms such as incidents of violence or falls.

In November 2018, Helen was chosen as the runner up in the ‘Leader of the year’ category at the Trust’s own Excellence awards, which recognise and celebrate the work of our staff.
Helen said: “When I found out I had been nominated for the Unsung Hero Awards I was so shocked! I had only logged onto Twitter to accept a new follower then saw the news – it was so overwhelming. I’m so pleased to have been shortlisted. Although I do lead on pieces of work, this really is recognition for all the patient safety support team and the work they put into supporting our staff to keep patients safe.”