Voting has opened for the Shropshire Star Public Recognition Award and you can help by choosing your hospital hero.

The Trust has teamed up with the Shropshire Star for one of its annual awards and there are three amazing finalists to vote for.

The Shropshire Star Public Recognition Award recognises teams or individuals who have made a remarkable contribution and show exceptional compassion and dedication in their role.

It is a highly coveted award as the finalists have been chosen by our patients and communities.

The three finalists are Karen Kirton, Sister and Urology Specialist Nurse; Ward 22 Short Stay team and Ward 25 Colorectal team.

It is brilliant to read the nominations for the finalists and see their dedication and commitment.

One patient’s nomination for Karen said that she had changed her life and she had a quality of life she never thought possible.

The team on Ward 22 Short Stay was nominated for going over and above as they cared for a patient at the end of his life and also the help they gave to his family.

Colleagues on Ward 25 Colorectal were praised for their exemplary care and how they had gone “above and beyond anything that we could ever have expected”.

All of them are such worthy finalists. To read all about them and to cast your vote, please visit https://trustawards.co.uk/shropshirestar.

The deadline for voting is Sunday 15 October and the winner will be presented with their award on Thursday 16 November.

I would like to thank colleagues for their incredible effort in building a temporary kitchen in just over a week to ensure that we could resume hot meals for our patients at Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.

This follows the identification of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in a kitchen area and, as a precaution, the kitchen and Apley Restaurant were closed.

More than 400 hot meals each sitting can be provided to our patients with the creation of the kitchen, which has involved the installation of electrics, sectioning off areas and building a walk-in chiller.

Thank you for your understanding while this work was being carried out.

Whilst the Trust continues to assess the situation with the kitchen and Apley Restaurant, the following catering provisions are available for staff and visitors:

  • Caffe Bistro will be opening Monday to Friday: 7.30am to 7.30pm or 9am to 4pm Saturday/Sunday
  • The Trust is looking to put in place an additional retail option
  • Vending machines remain available across the Princess Royal Hospital site.

This Saturday (14 October) is Allied Health Professions (AHP) Day, so we will be celebrating and saying thank you to our AHP colleagues.

AHPs play a key role at the Trust, supporting doctors and nurses in every department. They are the third largest healthcare workforce within the NHS and AHP Day gives us an opportunity to showcase the role they play and recognise their fantastic contribution to patient care.

We have AHP colleagues working in many different specialities including dietitians; occupational therapists; operating department practitioners (ODPs); orthoptists; paramedics; physiotherapists; podiatry; diagnostic radiographers; therapeutic radiographers and speech and language therapists.

This is such a rewarding career, and if it is a role that you would like to find out more about, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Tony Davies, AHP Lead Workforce, on anthony.davies10@nhs.net, or Becky Mammone, Practice Education Facilitator AHP, on becky.mammone@nhs.net