OUR VISION

A new staff and GP awards scheme has instilled confidence and boosted morale across NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale CCG.

The HMR Star (Special Thanks and Recognition) Awards were introduced to recognise and celebrate CCG employees and staff from the 38 member GP practices for the excellent work they do to help the CCG deliver its objectives and achieve its vision of healthier people, better future.

The awards scheme, which included a celebration event, was planned and delivered by members of the Greater Manchester Commissioning Support Unit (GMCSU) communications team.

Suggestions to introduce the awards scheme came from a GP practice towards the end of 2013, with recommendations worked up, presented to and approved by the CCG Executive Management Team the following January.

An early decision was made that the scheme would support the organisational culture and be recognition focused, without financial reward. Nominations opened on April 1, 2014, marking the CCG’s first anniversary.

HMR CCG buys the full GMCSU communications service, enabling the communications team to project manage the scheme and event, supported by a small committee of CCG staff.

Regular meetings were held between January and the celebration event on 12 June to seek views and support in decision making, planning, publicising, launching, delivering and evaluating.

Five award categories were agreed, with one – People’s Star – open to local people and patients to nominate GPs, practice managers, practice nurses or GP receptionists who deserve recognition. The other categories were: Shining Star, Silent Star, Innovation Star and Star Team.

An impressive 124 online and paper nominations were received across the five categories from a mixture of CCG staff, GP practice staff and members of the public. These were encouraged through a sustained drip-feeding of emails, staff briefings, social media and press releases during a month-long nomination period.

Following the close of nominations, the communications team led a process of checking, verifying and anonymising nominations in readiness for shortlisting by a carefully selected decision panel. The decision panel was also coordinated by the comms team to ensure optimum objectivity, confidentiality and a clear brief.

Finalists were informed and names communicated, but the winners remained a closely guarded secret until the ceremony.

From the outset, significant importance was placed on the celebration event and its inclusivity.

The CCG chair, Dr Chris Duffy, compered the ceremony, which took place at a local hotel. Key figures and clinical leads from the CCG presented the awards. There was also an addition of a special award requested by a local family for their GP.

Feedback on the night and post-event from all who attended was extremely positive. CCG staff and GP practices acknowledged the hard work and effort that went in to making the night a success, with some taking the time to send thank you emails.

An evaluation of all aspects of the scheme and event is being carried out by the communications team to build on the success and identify improvements and developments for next year.

"The event went really well and it’s been great to receive so much positive feedback, especially from member practices. Such a lot of work was put in behind the scenes to make this happen, so a big thank you to the GMCSU communications team for their part in making our first HMR Star Awards a huge success. I look forward to the awards becoming an annual fixture."
Dr Chris Duffy, Chair, HMR CCG