Inaugural Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Awards are launched

The inaugural Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Awards have been launched to help recognise and celebrate the vital work and dedication of staff right across the sector.

The awards were launched on Tuesday at an event attended by Health Minister, Robin Swann, Deputy First Minister, Michelle O’Neill and a host of representatives from across Northern Ireland’s health and social care sector.

Sponsored by Bond Healthcare, the prestigious awards ceremony is being hosted by Dr Amir Khan, resident GP on Good Morning Britain and Lorraine, and Paediatric Nurse and Cool FM presenter, Katharine Walker, and will take place on Thursday April 28 in the Crowne Plaza, Belfast.

There are 22 award categories to recognise the outstanding endeavours of the local health and social care sector including Doctor of the Year, Healthcare Assistant of the Year, Paramedic of the Year, Outstanding Contribution to the Nursing Profession, Midwife of the Year, Social Worker of the Year and Health and Social Care Worker of the Year.

The independent judging panel is made up of some of the most respected individuals within the sector - former Chief Nursing Officer for Northern Ireland, Professor Charlotte McArdle; Dr Sinead Campbell-Gray, Emergency Medicine Consultant for Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Northern Ireland Specialist Transport & Retrieval and Helicopter Emergency Medical Service; Conor McDowell, Lead Nurse of Belfast Trust; Andy Mayhew, Chief Executive of Praxis Care; Dr Nichola Booth, Lecturer in Behaviour Analysis & Autism; Disability Rights Activist, Michaela Hollywood; and Wellness Advocate, Annette Kelly.

Registered Nurse, Kieran McCormick, co-founder of the 2022 NI Health & Social Care Awards said: “At the minute there is no doubt that our front healthcare staff out there continue to be under immense pressure due to the ongoing Covid pandemic. Covid isn’t going away and we are having to learn to live with it. The past 20 plus months have been immensely challenging for all health and social care workers. There is no better time than now to kickstart a process aimed at recognising their bravery, resilience and sacrifice in dealing with these unprecedented circumstances with unflagging professionalism.

“The challenges aren’t going away, the pressures are still very much there, but let’s give our healthcare staff something to look forward to by recognising the amazing work they have been engaged in throughout all of this. Let’s bring a bit of positivity, acknowledge what has already been achieved and give healthcare staff a moment of glory in the spotlight.”

Kieran, 34, who lives in Belfast and works in agency nursing across a range of clinical sectors, working on the ground both managerially and on wards, continued:

“This is not just about frontline staff and GP services and hospitals but also our care homes, care services and mental health services and acute services. Let’s bring them together and show them how much we admire and appreciate what they have done throughout this unprecedented health crisis.

“As a nurse, more than anyone I know what my colleagues and my friends and all of our families and those who care for us have been and are going through. I’ve been living and breathing this Covid pandemic and I know how vital it is that we remain positive and remember that these dark days will not last forever.

“The current difficulties are huge because our hospitals are under pressure like never before, and there’s no denying that. But people deserve recognition and they deserve the positive vibes that such an award ceremony can bring.”

Kieran says his role, like so many others throughout the pandemic, has been “a really hard slog” and it is for this reason that he is so adamant about doing something to acknowledge the perseverance, excellence and bravery that has been on display right across our social and health care sector throughout the province.

He added: “Our community nurses are having difficulty, our care home staff are in difficulty, our GP practices are in difficulty - their challenges are different but they are no less important than those who are currently working in hospitals or in A&E departments.

“The clinical work that I do would not deserve comparison to say nurses working in the Nightingale Hospitals or are in inundated A&E departments.

“The ethos here has to ensure that the awards event will be inclusive of every aspect of health and social care here in Northern Ireland, and so we’ve included every category we could think of from nurses and doctors to porters and paramedics and more.

“We have a totally independent voting system presided over by seven judges who all work across the whole continuum of health and social care. We have experts who can provide an accurate and fair assessment of excellence in all of these categories.

“At the end of the tunnel, and through all of this darkness, we simply want to celebrate our health heroes of all stripes who have given so much in the battle against Covid. And this is just one brilliant way of being able to give some of them a massive pat on the back for doing their jobs in the worst possible circumstances, and often doing so at personal cost to themselves.”

He added: “We are delighted to have the endorsement of Health Minister Robin Swann and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill, to know that they fully appreciate the excellence of the health and social care staff across all agencies that we are lucky enough to benefit from right across Northern Ireland.”

Health Minister, Robin Swann said he was honoured to have been invited to the launch event for the inaugural awards: “I am continually impressed by the selflessness, commitment and compassion that all our health and social care staff have shown throughout this pandemic and in delivering care to patients throughout the service.

“It is important to pay tribute to the work carried out by all the incredibly hard-working people, who make up the health and social care sector in Northern Ireland, and these awards are one way of recognising the immense and amazing work that has been carried out during the pandemic.”

Jonathan St Clare, director of Bond Healthcare said: “We are delighted to be the title sponsor of the inaugural Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Awards.

“Bond Healthcare is a leading Northern Irish based healthcare recruiter supplying a wide range of candidates to public and private sector healthcare organisations across the region. Following an exceptionally challenging period for the health and social care sector, we are proud to support and celebrate the hard work and dedication of this exceptional group of people. There are so many deserving winners across the sector and we would encourage everyone to get involved and enter.”

Sponsors include Balmoral Healthcare, Beyond Digital, Bowden Property, Connected Academy, HSC Clinical Education Centre, Keenan Recruitment, Sewing Solutions, Tayto and TruWASH.

The charity partner is the Northern Ireland Air Ambulance which provides the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service attending some of the most traumatic medical incidents across the province, delivering the very best pre-hospital critical care, both at the scene and whilst transferring the patients to the most appropriate hospital for their specific injuries.

For more information or to make a nomination for the 2022 NI Health and Social Care Awards visit www.healthandsocialawards.com.