Staff stars provide shining example

This month saw the return of the annual Sheffield Children’s Star Awards, and with it, a celebration of the staff who go the extra mile to make sure children, young people and their families receive the highest quality care possible.

Harry Gration MBE, from BBC’s Look North presented the awards, with judges choosing from over 500 nominations, a record high in the awards’ history.

With the awards forged and engraved in Sheffield steel thanks to Outokumpu and support for the evening provided by Sumo Digital and Cisco, the evening highlighted the work of doctors, nurses and those in supporting roles who have made immeasurable differences to the lives of families in the surrounding regions and beyond.

The Children’s Star Award, nominated by patients and families, was given to nurse Matt Ross for his kindness, care and ability to bring a smile to both seriously ill children and their parents.

One nomination read: “My daughter got viral meningitis when she was four weeks old, as you can imagine it was the worst time of our lives. When I was at rock bottom, Matt went that extra mile for us both. I honestly can’t thank him enough, he not only did the best job looking after my daughter but he got me through the worst time of my life.”

Another parent wrote: “My son is on Matt’s ward a lot and has grown up with him as his nurse. For every admission to hospital, even it is on another ward, Matt will come out of his way to spend quality fun time with my son.”

The Paediatric Critical Care Unit, who care for seriously ill children, won the team Children’s Star Award.

The team were nominated by a number of families, one of whom thanked staff for their life-saving care: “My son nearly died at three weeks, four days old and if it wasn’t for the nurses and doctors who helped him my son wouldn’t be here.”

Another nomination praises the staff on the unit as “caring not only for the children but also for the parents at a very scary time! They saved my daughter against all odds but comforted and cared for me and my partner too.”