Healthcare assistant Lisa Morgan has been praised by NHS England’s regional nursing workforce team for her inspirational contribution to would-be healthcare support workers, receiving a huge bouquet of flowers to say ‘Thank You!’
The ‘blooming’ surprise follows a recent two-day recruitment event held in Leeds by NHS England and Improvement (NHSEI) where out of around 1,000 candidates, a phenomenal 861 left with a job offer.
Many of the applicants spent time before their interview with Lisa who enthused them to reflect on both their work and personal life experiences which made them strong candidates to pursue a career in healthcare.
Superb insight into the role of healthcare support workers
Victoria Bagshaw is the Regional Nursing, Midwifery and AHP Workforce Lead for NHS England and NHS Improvement, North East and Yorkshire. She said Lisa “was phenomenal”.
“It was an absolute pleasure to spend two days with Lisa. Her insight into the role of healthcare support workers was superb, and her compassionate, supportive nature was clear for all to see. I can’t say enough how impressed we were with her enthusiasm and passion.”
Anthony Mills from recruitment agency Indeed which supported the event added “It was amazing listening to how Lisa encouraged people to really think about their strengths, capabilities and experience, preparing them for really positive interviews.
“One of the things about Lisa that really impressed me was the effect she had on so many people who, after being really nervous beforehand, returned excited from their interview asking if they could speak to her.”
They were so happy and just wanted to share their good news that they had been successful with her.
Anthony Mills from recruitment agency Indeed
Anthony continued: “We wanted to acknowledge the positive impact Lisa had on so many people and say thank you.”
Lisa has been a healthcare assistant for over 30 years at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital, working in paediatric cardiothoracic theatres for over 6 years.
Amanda Hails is one of the theatre’s sisters. She said: “Lisa constantly strives to achieve excellence in everything she does and is always thinking of how she can improve anything she’s involved in and is tremendous support both as a colleague and a friend.
“Her main role is to lead on family centred care, for which she won a Royal College of Nursing Award in 2019 in recognition of the fabulous work she does.
“Whilst a staunch advocate for every child, her approach is very much about the family in its entirety. She sees patients and their families on the ward prior to surgery which they are often very anxious about, and then the following day goes to see them again on the paediatric intensive care unit. She is a real focal point and the amount of wonderful feedback we get from families is phenomenal.”
Matron for cardiothoracic theatres Dawn Turley adds: “We are all very proud of Lisa – she really does make a difference and not just to her patients and their families but to her workplace too. Well done Lisa!”
NHS England’s Healthcare Support Worker Shared Decision-Making Council
A passionate advocate for working in the NHS, Lisa took up the opportunity to become a member of NHS England’s Healthcare Support Worker (HCSW) Shared Decision-Making Council – a collaboration which encourages HCSWs around the country to come together to help shape, support and develop healthcare support worker roles, and onward career progression.
It was through this Council that Lisa became involved in the NHS England’s career event. She said the whole process was amazing from start to finish and felt very proud to be involved.
“I started working for the NHS 31 years ago and still feel as passionate about my job today as I did back then,” explains Lisa.
“I feel very privileged to have been given the opportunity to develop and support the role of health care support workers across our region and nationally.”
