View from the Hilton - what it feels like to win a Nursing Times award

Finding out we had been shortlisted was a little surreal, the need for more information became a top priority. The Nursing Times Awards website was checked several times just to make certain Rotherham Community Health Services was listed in the continence category and this reassured us that we had not dreamed the whole thing.  An invitation to attend an interview and give a 20-minute presentation to a judging panel soon arrived and gave the team something else to panic about. Offers of help from the team in preparing the presentation were plentiful. Our first draft was found to be an incredible 64 minutes long, serious pruning was undertaken!

Interview day was a beautiful, sunny Friday in September. Three brave souls travelled down from South Yorkshire to London to face the panel. They were, Stuart Lakin, Head of Medicines Management, who had taken a huge leap of faith in transferring the prescribing budget from GP practices to the continence service. Kate Midgley, senior medicines management technician, who, with detective-like qualities and a large collection of high lighter pens, had identified every patient in Rotherham who received prescriptions for continence related equipment and transferred them to the continence service caseload. I completed the trio.

Stuart’s competent map reading skills resulted in a pleasant walk to the offices of the Nursing Times where the interviews were being held.  A morbid fear of being late meant we were far too early; waiting in reception was the worst part of the day.

Once we were in with the interview panel time passed with great speed. Despite pruning which would have made Alan Titchmarsh proud, our presentation overran and we were unable to show our last slide. However, the panel were lovely and the interview itself felt like it was over in a minute.

Once we left the interview panel we were told we needed to have our picture taken for the Awards supplement, we were handed over to a photographer and the chaos began. After what felt like hours, the photographer sighed and said he though he might have a suitable picture and sent us on our way. Having now seen the picture in said supplement I understand his despondency. 

After the usual post interview/presentation worries of “I wish I’d have said…” time passed in a blur of “what shall I wear to the award ceremony?”. Dresses were duly purchased and dinner jackets hired, hotel rooms booked and after weeks of planning the 18th November arrived.

We felt so proud of what we had achieved as a team and set off to the Hilton in high spirits. The venue was fantastic and the atmosphere was brilliant. I don’t remember much about the meal but I am told it was lovely! As the presentations began and our category got nearer I developed severe palpitations. When it was announced we had won I was stunned! The team went on stage to receive the award, a video interview followed, how much sense we made I don’t know. The whole experience has proved to be a wonderful team building process and I am so glad we submitted our project. I would encourage other continence teams to submit work they have undertaken; there is so much good work out there than goes unrecognised.

As a team we will be posting blogs for the next 12 months to update the interested in how our project isprogressing. Our continence prescription service continues to develop and we are looking at implementing several new initiatives over the next year. Look out for the next instalment!

Joanne Mangnall, Continence Advisor, Rotherham Community Health Services

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