Three unsung heroes of healthcare were honoured in the Bradford Hospital Oscars.

The annual event, which is part of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s week of events, honours the hard work and dedication of staff who go the extra mile.

The trio, who were given their awards for their outstanding contributions to patient care and dedication, were nominated by colleagues and the winners announced at the annual meeting of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust last night.

This year’s Oscar winners, chosen from 10 nominations, were: Peggy Wee Fallon, Nursing Auxiliary with the Children’s Outpatients Department at St Luke’s Hospitals, Lisa Wright, Anaesthetic Rota Administrator and Marilyn Tattersall, Waiting List Manager.

All three were presented with a cheque for £1,000, thanks to sponsors Sovereign Health Care, along with a certificate and an Oscar.

Peggy, who works in the busy children’s outpatients department in the Horton Wing of St Luke’s was nominated by Staff Nurse, Vickie Ayton and received the support of the unit.

Consultant Paediatrician, Rebecca Bardgett, added: “Peggy is an inspirational individual who bring a ray of sunshine into everyone’s day. She should be a national treasure, or certainly a Bradford one!

“Over the years, Peggy has shown unstinting energy and enthusiasm for her work and always has time for everyone. She treats all patients and their families with utmost respect and warmth and has a very disarming manner for children who are often scared in an unfamiliar environment.

 “Peggy has endured a succession of difficulties (and tragedies) in her own personal life, but is an inspiration to us all in the way she maintains a smile and a zest for life. She works efficiently and with kindness and consideration and is constantly thinking or others and raising money for various charitable organisations in her spare time.”

Lisa, who administers the anaesthetic rota from her office at the Bradford Royal Infirmary, was nominated by Consultant Anaesthetist, Jamie Atkinson, who described her work as “pivotal”, “undervalued” and that the department would “grind to a halt without her.”

He added: “Lisa is directly responsible for the movements of over 80 anaesthetists covering 20 operating theatres plus intensive care, acute and chronic pain services and obstetric anaesthesia.

“It is estimated that over 80% of all patients in the Foundation Trust will, at some point, require the services of an anaesthetist. Making sure that all of us are in the right place at the right time is a fiendishly difficult task of immense (and greatly undervalued) importance to the hospitals.

“Lisa is the first point of contact between our department and the surgical specialities, and is also the first person anaesthetists turn to when we need to sort out rota-related queries. Behind the scenes, she assembles the rota up to six week 6 weeks in advance, which requires vast numbers of phone calls and emails to relevant parties. She frequently works over her normal hours and makes a huge effort to get rota planning far enough ahead for us to manage when she is on leave, to the point where she came in on her day off and worked a full day without promoting before her last holiday to get ahead of things. Her ability to weed out rota errors and to come up with solutions to seemingly impossible problems is phenomenal.”   

Head of Performance, Julie Lawlor, nominated waiting list manager, Marilyn Tattersall, for tireless management of the inpatient waiting list and its team since she took up the position in 1995 and for demonstrating “commitment, passion ad a genuine heart for patients.”

Julie continued: “There are hundreds of patients added to the inpatient waiting list every week and she has effectively lead her team to ensure patients are added to the waiting list correctly, to the right consultant and that patients are kept well informed.

“The rules and targets around waiting lists are complex and often change; Marilyn is out ‘translator’ and helps everyone, especially new staff, to understand how our inpatient waiting list works. She has constantly passed on her knowledge to others and endeavours to keep her team consistently on top of the waiting list and motivated. She constantly goes the extra mile.

“Most of all, Marilyn does not see ‘a long waiter’ on a spread-sheet, she sees people and has worked behind the scenes for over 16 years to ensure that our patients are seen as quickly as possible and treated with the ultimate respect. Many people across the Foundation Trust only have words of praise for her contribution and she will be missed when she retires next March.”

The awards were presented by Foundation Trust Chairman, David Richardson, and deputy Chairman of Sovereign Health Care, Bob Dugdale.

Foundation Trust Chairman David Richardson said: "These three winners are excellent examples of the skilled and dedicated staff we have here in Bradford's hospitals whose hard work allows us to deliver such a high standard of care."

The three were handed their Oscars, a certificate and gift from the trust, and £500 from award sponsors Sovereign Health Care.

All seven remaining nominees, described by Foundation Trust Chief Executive, Miles Scott, as "shining examples" were given a certificate.