STAR Awards Winners 2023

On Wednesday 19 April 2023, we held our 4th Annual STAR Awards ceremony. 

The event continues to grow, and this year we received the highest number of nominations ever, 50 in total, and the quality of them all was outstanding, so as you can imagine, it made it really difficult for our judging panel to pick the winners this year.

The day was all about demonstrating how local services are responding to the needs of those they support. This has not only improved experiences for local people but increased the quality of services they receive.

It’s been great to see so many innovative ways of working, gaps in support identified and filled, as well as some fantastic examples of collaborative approaches. This highlights that in many cases, providers have acknowledged that it’s beneficial to utilise a range of strengths, skills and knowledge from different deliverers, for those requiring a more holistic approach to improve outcomes.

It's also been great to see more care nominations this year, which allows us to celebrate and acknowledge the amazing support that is delivered in this sector across South Tees.

Please see below for all category nominees, those shortlisted and the winners: 

Care and Compassion Award: Celebrating people who demonstrate a responsive, flexible, kind and respectful approach in the support offered within a health or care service.

Angie Lynch, Clinical Administrator - Teesside Hospice Care Foundation, Cath Lab Radiography Team - South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Daljit Keala, Nurse - Erimus Practice, Dawn Burns, Support Worker - Little Waves Nursery. Haematology Day Unit - South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Joseph Bentley, Care Assistant - Meadowvale Homecare, Lisa Williamson, Outreach Nurse - Teesside Hospice Care Foundation, Marie Kerr, Project Development - Dementia Action Teesside.

Shortlisted and winner:

Joseph Bentley, Meadowvale Home Care

Marie Kerr, Dementia Action Teesside

Winner - Lisa Williamson, Teesside Hospice

Excelling in Support of Others Award: Celebrating people who go the extra mile to ensure the health and care support they offer is of a high standard and enhances the experiences of service users, relatives and staff.

Andrew Jackson, Procurement Operational Services Manager - South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Ashley Taylor, Health Care Assistant - South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Benjamin Day, Personal Trainer - Day Fitness, Carol O’Brien, Healthcare Assistant - Teesside Hospice Care Foundation, Claire Sweeney, Care Assistant - Meadowvale Homecare, Deborah Archer, Facilities Manager - Teesside Hospice Care Foundation, Dr Matthew Williams, A&E - South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Ellee Bailes & Prakash Loganathan, Neonatal Badger Implementation Team Members - South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Jo Kelsey, Paediatric Sister - South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Karen Winspear - Senses Wellbeing Centre CIC, Kirstie Wilson-Stonestreet, Liaison Psychiatry - South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Olalekan  Odedeyi, CEO - Save the Woman, Roshanne Sutton, Care Assistant - Meadowvale Homecare, Sarah Mode, Pharmacy Manager - Tesco Pharmacy, Sharon Young, Podiatrist - Redcar Primary Care Hospital

Shortlisted and winner:

Brenda Plowman, Home Instead

Gary Gray, Redcar & Cleveland MIND

Winner - Jade Lavan, Dementia UK

Making a Difference Award: Celebrating people who volunteer their time within a health or care service, offering care and support to make a positive difference to people in our community

Dawn Greenan, - Teesside Hospice Care Foundation, Sarah Smith - The Link Charitable Trust

Shortlisted and winner:

Alison Alderson, Dementia Action Teesside

Behnoosh Shahandeh,  Methodist Asylum Project

Winner - Peer Support Volunteers, Homestart Teesside

Valued Service Award. Recognising any valued health or care services in the community

Health Records Library & Admissions - South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Home Instead Cleveland, Middlesbrough Mental Health Services for Older People Admin Team - Woodside Resource Centre, Prospect Surgery - Middlesbrough, Same Day Emergency Care - South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Shortlisted and winner:

Beyond Housing, Reach & Respond

South Tees Transfer of Care Team

Winner: ARCH, Teesside

Leading the Way for Change Award. Recognising services who have identified and filled a gap that has had a positive impact on those they support

The Pathways to Wellness Team - The Junction Foundation

Shortlisted and winner:

Sensory Drop In Clinic - South Tees Public Health & Adult Social Care

Sam & Debi - South Tees Hospitals Trust volunteer recruitment & Induction Programme

Winner - Woodside Dementia Wellbeing Hub

Community Innovator Award. Recognising services who have developed new ways of working to better meet the needs of the communities they support

Community Navigators - Tees, Esk & Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust

Shortlisted and winner:

The Specialist Physical Activity Team - Middlesbrough Council

South Tees Falls Steering Group

Winner: Care Home Enhanced Rapid Response Service

Special Recognition Awards

The standard of all of this years nominations was unbelievable, so whilst we were judging, we agreed that there were a couple that we wanted to recognise with a special recognition award.

This year, the Special Recognition Awards were awarded to two nominations, one delivering in Middlesbrough and the other in Redcar & Cleveland, that didn’t necessarily receive the highest score, but the judging panel wanted to recognise them for what they had achieved or for the difference they had made to those they support.

1^st Award

The Middlesbrough award is for one of the many services nationally that has had a lot of bad media coverage lately, much of this arising from skilled staff shortages.

This service has recruited new staff, delivered services in a different way and embedded a new culture in order to turn a poorly rated service into a good one for the benefit of their community. They did this by engaging those who receive their service to inform the necessary improvements. They went above and beyond what was expected of them in a particularly trying time period.

The Special Recognition Award goes to – Prospect Surgery

2^nd Award

The Redcar & Cleveland award was one of the only nominations that provided services to young people. They provide a valuable service supporting young people and their families with their mental health which started just before lockdown, and they were quick to adapt their delivery model to ensure young people were able to access the support they needed during this difficult time.

A lot of those they support have left school with little evidence of academic achievement so by also offering access to training opportunities, will contribute to improving their employment prospects and aspirations in the future.

The 2^nd Special Recognition Award goes to – The Pathways to Wellness Team, The Junction Foundation