Hospital staff honoured with 'Health Hero' awards at Peterborough Cathedral

The outstanding work of ‘Health Heroes’ from North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust has been recognised at a special awards ceremony.

Held at Peterborough Cathedral, the Outstanding Achievement Awards saw the Trust honouring many of it staff and volunteers.

Trophies were presented in a number of categories which recognised individuals and teams from Peterborough City, Hinchingbrooke and Stamford & Rutland Hospitals.

A highlight of the evening was the Peterborough and Hinchingbrooke Health Hero awards – voted for by the public:

Winning Peterborough City Hospital’s ‘Health Hero’ Award was Dr Tim Jones, Consultant Paediatrician.

A Trust spokesperson explained: “Described by his nominator as a ‘living legend’, Dr Tim Jones has been praised for his professionalism and quick thinking which they believe saved their daughter’s life!

“The nominator’s daughter was born 18 years ago with Super Ventricular Tachycardia (SVT), with a heart rate of 280-300 beats per minute. At just two-hours-old, her parents and older sister say they were terrified and scared for their newborn’s life.

“We were informed that this was unique and new for a newborn but were blessed that on this day Dr Tim was on shift in SCBU, acted professionally, swiftly and calmly made contact with a specialist at Glenfield (Dr Duke) to agree a plan of action which we believed saved her life,” said the nominator.

Despite statistics suggesting the baby would ‘grow out of it’, she has lived with SVT all her life and recently celebrated her 18th Birthday.

“Dr Tim is a living legend – his holistic approach to our daughter and our family has enabled her to achieve her milestones, and for us to help her manage the condition affectively,” added the nominator.

Winning the Health Hero Award at Hinchingbrooke Hospital was Nicki Astle, Paediatric Epilepsy Nurse

“Nicki has been a pillar of support, advice and reliability for us through some of the most traumatising and stressful periods of the last few years of care for our daughter,” said her nominator.

Nicki’s public Health Hero award reflects the enormous gratitude felt by anxious parents of a child with complex needs, who was frequently cared for by Nicki.

“Despite an enormous workload, Nicki has never failed to respond, comfort, inform and react to emergencies and situations which have left our child in serious conditions and me extremely emotionally vulnerable,” they said.

“As a parent of an exceptionally complex child, individuals like Nicki are so precious in improving the lives of our entire family and quite literally saving the life of my child, and I will be eternally grateful for her professional knowledge, patience and kindness.”