Golden Stars Awards 2024 - Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

New for 2024, Golden Stars will be the first staff awards ceremony we hold as a Group.

It brings together the former Hull University Teaching Hospitals Trust awards Golden Hearts, and the Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust Our Stars event.

Do you know someone who’s done something amazing?

Maybe they’ve turned around a struggling service, made advances in clinical care which benefit patients and colleagues, or perhaps they’ve spent their life looking after others and it’s now time to say thanks in return?

Whether they work in one of our five hospitals or our community services – we want to hear from you. There’s an award category for everyone – teams, individuals, clinical and non-clinical colleagues.

We know there are so many of our staff who go over and above in the course of their daily work, so what better way to recognise someone than with a Golden Stars Award nomination?

We have 15 awards up for grabs, including one which is put forward by patients and their families.

When making your nomination, it’s important to include as much detail as possible to enable the judges to fully understand what’s great about the person or team you are putting forward.

Think about what exactly they did to solve a problem, the impact their enthusiasm or their commitment have on people around them, and give examples of when they have shown compassion, dedication or leadership.

Please ensure you read the FAQs and Guidelines as well as the Categories and Criteria section first.

Make your nomination shine. Entries should be a minimum of 250 words and a maximum of 1500 words, but remember: it’s about quality, not quantity!

Entries must be received by midnight on Tuesday 30 April 2024 to be entered into this year’s awards. A shortlist will then be made available in the Summer, and our black tie Golden Stars Awards ceremony will be held later this year.

So if you know someone who fits the bill, don’t wait until the last minute…

Submit a nomination today

Categories and Criteria

Nominations for the Golden Stars Awards open on Tuesday 2 April 2024 and close on Tuesday 30 April 2024.

Before you submit your nomination please read the criteria for each award carefully as aligning your nomination to this will mean it’s scored more highly.

Nominations will also score marks for connecting their submissions to one or more of the 6Cs: Care, Compassion, Competence, Courage, Communication, Commitment and explaining how the nominee has embodied the Group values or helped to deliver the group objectives.

Our Golden Stars Awards categories are…

1. Excellence in Research, Development or Innovation

This award will go to an individual or team which can demonstrate an outstanding and innovative contribution to research and development.
Nominations may score more highly if they can show how this person or team has:

Successfully delivered a clinical or non-clinical trial with excellent results.
Promoted research as a core component of Group thinking.
Generated funding bids, training opportunities, projects, partnerships and participants.
Collaborated across the North and South bank to successfully implement the research and findings.

2. Excellence in Quality Improvement

This award recognises individuals or teams who have taken strides to constantly improve and enhance the services they provide. This could be through a formal quality improvement project, or not – using quality improvement methodology.

Nominations will score more highly if your application includes details of the following:

A compelling reason to make a change or improvement.
Evidence that an improvement has been made in outcomes/experience.
The significant impact this has had on patient care, and evidence to showcase this.
Examples of patient and/or staff engagement, providing examples of creativity and any teamwork that enhanced the improvement.

3. Healthcare Heroes

This award gives patients and their families the opportunity to tell us about their NHS heroes, the people who made a real difference at their time of need, improved their experience and created a lasting positive impact.

Nominations will score more highly if you can show how this person or team has:

Demonstrated compassion and caring above the call of duty.
Listened to and acted upon feedback from patients/service users.
Had a significant positive impact that they had on this patient/service user, detailed in the nomination.

4. Excellence in Patient Safety

This award will go to a team or individual who has successfully implemented an effective patient safety initiative. This may have been the result of learning lessons when something went wrong, addressing feedback from a complaint, PALs query or from a clinical audit, or effectively managing the roll-out of a national initiative.

Your nomination will score more highly if you can show how this person or team has:

Listened to feedback/concerns raised and taken action in response.
Detailed steps taken to learn and improve the service for patients and/or staff.
Provided feedback to teams/individuals involved to share learning.
Made an improvement that can be evidenced for the benefit of patients and/or staff.

5. Net Zero Hero

This award is for a team, or individual, that has successfully demonstrated a commitment to sustainability and specifically a reduction in the environmental impact of their service or the wider organisation.

You may score more highly if you can show how this person or team has:

Helped the trust or their department/service to deliver on reducing carbon emissions.
Demonstrated a creative and innovative approach to reducing carbon emissions in their area, for their trust, or for the Group.

6. Excellence in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Recognising a person or team which promotes equality, diversity and inclusion for service users, staff or the community.

You may score more highly if you can show how this person or team has:

Enhanced care for service users and/or colleagues through a sustained and passionate commitment to inclusion.
Raised the profile of inclusion within their organisation.
Contributed to an improvement in a specific area of EDI, including: equality of access to opportunities, recruitment or networking. This can be for staff and/or patients.

7. Inspirational Leader

In recognition of an inspiring leader who motivates and encourages their team to achieve great things.

The winner will be a compassionate and visionary role model for staff. They do not need to be a senior manager, as we find leadership at all levels.

You will score more highly if you can evidence how this person has:

Led their team to excellent performance or improved their team, department or service significantly.
Developed a team of engaged, involved staff who enjoy coming to work.
Involved staff in decision-making, encouraged staff to make suggestions for change and enabled them to deliver improvements.
Provided ongoing and regular support to an individual.
Constantly strived to improve themselves in order to continuously develop their skills as a leader.

8. Rising Star Award

This award looks to celebrate those taking their first steps in their NHS career — whether that’s a younger member of the team, an apprentice, or someone who’s new to the NHS. They will have demonstrated a commitment and professionalism in their service and acted as a role model for the Group.

Your nomination will score more highly if you can show how this person has:

Excelled in their role.
Helped to improve the team, department or service.
Contributed significantly to the delivery of great care, patient experience, safety, etc.

9. Unsung Hero

Working tirelessly behind the scenes, they rarely receive recognition or acclaim for the vital work they do day in, day out to keep our services running smoothly. This person largely goes unnoticed, but now is their time to shine. They may work in an area of the Group which is less high profile but their contribution is essential.

Your nomination will score more highly if you can show how this person has:

Consistently excelled in their role.
Helped to improve the team, department, service, trust or Group.
Contributed to the delivery of great care, patient experience, safety, etc.
Acted as a role model for staff and/or patients and service users, providing a consistent approach to their role.

10. Outstanding Clinical Team

The winning clinical team will have great team spirit and sense of collective purpose. They will communicate and engage well with their colleagues and other parts of the Group and will have excelled themselves in the last 12 months with an inspirational effort.

You may score more highly if your application includes details of the following:

How the team contributes to the delivery of great care, and shows excellent team spirit and camaraderie in doing that.
Specific examples of where the team has excelled itself and where they have demonstrated organisational values and behaviours.
Details of excellent communication, staff engagement, service improvements and partnership working either within or outside of the Group.

11. Outstanding Support Team

The winning support team will have a great team spirit and sense of collective purpose. They will communicate and engage well with their colleagues and other parts of the Group and will have excelled themselves in the last 12 months with an inspirational effort.

You may score more highly if your application includes details of the following:

How the team contributes to the delivery of great care, and shows excellent team spirit and camaraderie in doing that.
Specific examples of where the team has excelled itself and where they have demonstrated organisational values and behaviours.
Details of excellent communication, staff engagement, service improvements and partnership working either within or outside of the Group.

12. Volunteer of the Year

We rely on our volunteers for many things; from that friendly face when visitors arrive on site to managing the patient library, helping out on the wards and in the chapel. This is our small way of recognising and sincerely thanking them for their outstanding contribution.

You may score more highly if you can show how this person has:

Provided a calm and caring presence in the service or department in which they volunteer; assisting patients as needed.
• Enhanced the patient experience of the service/department through the work that they provide.
• Has become an integral part to the team in which they volunteer.

13. Partnership Working Award

This award will go to the individual or team which can best demonstrate an improvement or extraordinary success through working with services and departments across the group, and other key partners.

Your nomination will score more highly if you can show how this person or team has:

Created and sustained a purposeful relationship, demonstrating excellent engagement and communication.
Identified and articulated a clear understanding of the need for the partnership, and the benefits that have resulted from it.
Provided evidence that the partnership is helping to achieve strategic objectives and delivered clear outcomes.

14. Lifetime Achievement Award

The winning individual will have dedicated at least 25 years of their career to the NHS. They will truly reflect the 6Cs: Care, Compassion, Competence, Courage, Communication, Commitment; and embody the values of the organisation.

You will score more highly if you can show how this person has:

Demonstrated altruism and compassion in their working life.
Committed their career to improving services for the benefit of patients and/or staff.
Consistently achieved a high standard of performance in their role.
Acted as an inspiration and role model to others.

15. Chief Executive's Award

Our Chief Executive will choose a winner from our Shining Lights awards scheme.

Shining Lights gives staff the chance to tell us about the things that have made them proud to work for the NHS and our Group. Every day the NHS works miracles but a lot of the time these go unheard. However big or small we are encouraging staff to post their Shining Lights on the message board we have set up especially for this purpose.

Each month the Chief Executive chooses a winner and then an overall winner from the previous 12 months is selected for the Golden Stars Awards.

FAQs and Guidelines

Here are some helpful hints on how to write an effective Golden Stars Awards nomination.

How long should my nomination be?

Your nomination should ideally be between 250 and 1,000 words and must not exceed 1,500 words. It should be long enough to detail exactly what the individual/team has done that deserves recognition. A nomination that is only a few lines or one paragraph will not contain enough information for it to be shortlisted. Nominations should give as much detail as possible and cover the points listed as required for that category.

What do I need to include?

For each category there is a list of what you should try to include. You should cover as many of these points as possible, and link any work done and achievements to the 6Cs. You should include as much detail as you can so that the judges understand exactly what happened, why, the benefits it had for the individual, team, patients, service, trust or Group, what the outcome was, and why it should be recognised by the Trust. Be as descriptive as possible, so rather than just saying “Lisa is brilliant at her job”, explain exactly why and what it is they do that is brilliant, and how that goes above and beyond what is expected. Include as much detail as possible.

If you have evidence such as data or patient feedback, please include that too to strengthen the nomination.

How do I connect it to the 6Cs?

Your nomination should reference as many of the 6Cs as relevant and show that the 6Cs were an integral part of the work done, and were demonstrated by the staff involved. This applies to all nominations — whether the staff involved are clinical or non-clinical. All staff and work being nominated will be linked to at least one of the 6Cs, so tell us how. The work and the way in which it was delivered will also be linked to the Group values, so explain the impact that demonstrating those behaviours and values had on the work and the final outcomes.

See the Categories and Criteria section for more detail.

What is the closing date for nominations?

The closing date for nominations is Tuesday 30 April 2024.

What happens when I have submitted a nomination?

All nominations over 250 words receive a free gift and thank you card.
All nominations should be no more than 1,500 words.
The closing date to submit a nomination is Tuesday 30 April 2024.
All nominations are reviewed by a team of previous winners and the Golden Stars Awards team to ensure they meet the basic criteria.
All nominators should ensure their application meets the criteria before submission for the greatest chance of being shortlisted for this year’s awards.
Applications are scored against the criteria and the highest scoring five in each category go to the Golden Stars judges. The judging panel is made up of members of the executive team and patient representatives.
The judges select their preferred three nominations, in order, to establish which entry is first, second and third in each category.
Winners will be announced at the Golden Stars Awards ceremony.

Judging Protocol

The Golden Stars Awards Team will strive every year to make the judging process as simple and fair as possible. This will help to ensure that the finalists and winners represent the talent and successes we have in our teams and individuals throughout the year at our hospitals.

After the closing date all nominations are scored by the pre-judging team using specific criteria, and a shortlist of five nominations is created for each category. The nominations shortlisted will then go through to the judging panel where the final decisions are made as to who the winners of each category are.

The judging panel is made up of the Group Executive Team, representatives from each Care Group and Directorate, previous awards winners and patient representatives.

Pre-Judging

The pre-judging team will usually comprise staff from all or some of the following areas:

Human Resources Business Partners
Communications Team
Organisational Development Team

The pre-judging process takes place from the closing date for applications.

The pre-judging panel are given a maximum of 2 weeks to complete shortlisting and to submit their scores for all applications. All pre-judging is co-ordinated by the Communications and OD teams. If any other individuals are identified for pre-judging, they must be paired with a member of the Communications or OD team to ensure consistency and accuracy of judging. Working in pairs the pre-judges are each allocated 2-3 categories to judge.

Both staff members marking that category must complete the score sheet for each application separately, individually assigning a score for each element. The score sheets for the pre-judging process should be used for all categories.

All scores should then be recorded in a master score sheet, and the top 5 in each category identified.

If there is a tie in scores, or a discrepancy with scores, and it is not possible to identify a top 5, another pair should then re-mark the whole category and add all of the scores together. If it is still not possible to identify a top 5, the whole pre-judging panel should then review the category and select a top 5.

Judging

The following individuals are all invited to judge the shortlisted entries:

Chairman
Non-Executive Members
Group Chief Nurse
Group Chief Medical Officer
Group Chief Finance Officer
Group Chief Delivery Officer
Group Chief People Officer
Group Chief Strategy and Partnerships Officer
Chief of Staff
Director of Corporate Affairs
Director of Communications
Director of Learning and Organisational Development
Care Group Directors
Previous awards winners
Patient Representatives

Once pre-judging is complete, the top 5 applications for all categories are then submitted to the judging panel.

The judging panel are emailed a pack of the top nominations for each category approximately 2 weeks before the panel takes place. They are asked to choose their top 3 in each category, assigning 10 points for 1^st place, 5 points for 2^nd place and 1 point for 3^rd place.

At the judging panel they are then asked to tell the rest of the panel how they have scored each category, and the scores are recorded in an overall score sheet by the Communications and OD team representatives.

If a judge has scored but is unable to attend the formal panel, they may submit their scores electronically to be recorded before the judging panel takes place.

In the event of a tie for any category, the panel will discuss until they can agree a final top 3 in order.

The Chief Executive of the Trust will remain impartial but act as Chair of the judging panel. In the event of a tie where the panel are unable to agree a final top 3, the Chief Executive will score the applications fairly and their vote will provide the deciding vote on which team or individual will win. They must vote and their scores recorded to adjust the overall scores accordingly.

The decision of the judging panel is final.

Terms and Conditions

Applications to the Golden Heart Awards are subject to the following terms and conditions. Please read these carefully before proceeding to the nomination form.

The final date for all nominations is midnight (at the end of) Tuesday 30 April 2024.
Nominations can be made online or you can write your nomination and send it to the Communications and Engagement Team, 1st Floor Alderson House, Hull Royal Infirmary. Written nominations should contain the same sections/headings as the online application form.
Entries cannot be accepted or amended after the entry deadline has passed.
No responsibility will be taken by the Golden Stars Awards Team for IT issues/technical difficulties preventing submission of a nomination. Should there be any doubt as to whether a nomination has been submitted, the nominator should contact nlg-tr.comms@nhs.net to request confirmation of receipt.
All nominations must meet the core criteria for each category.
The content of applications must be factually accurate to the best of the nominator’s knowledge.
Gifts and thank you cards will only be issued if the nomination is over 250 words in length.
Where nominations are for teams, each member of the team and their role in the project or piece of work must be identified on the application form.
Some of the work involved in your entry must have been undertaken in 2023-2024.
You may not submit the same entry for more than one category.
Finalists and winners will be expected to participate in publicity for the awards and to help others learn from their work throughout the year.
Individuals and teams that are short-listed for an award will be expected to be photographed and filmed for promotional materials and the evening event.
Should any team or individual refuse to take part in any publicity for the awards, the team or individual will be asked to withdraw from the awards and their nomination will not be submitted for judging.
Should the judges determine an entry submitted for one category is of greater relevance to another category, they may re-categorise that entry.
If any entry does not fulfil the categories and criteria, or is generic in nature, the Golden Stars Awards Team reserves the right to resubmit the entry as a Shining Lights (replacing Moments of Magic)
Entries may be edited by the Golden Stars Awards Team to correct any erroneous administrative information.
All entries will be vetted and verified for accuracy by the Golden Stars Awards Team. Should it come to light that there are issues, whether ethical or factual, pertaining to any application, the team reserve the right to withdraw that application, whether that application has been short-listed as a finalist or not.
The contact details contained in entries will not be shared outside of the Trust unless permission is granted.
Entries will be assessed prior to judging to ensure they meet the minimum criteria. Those which do not will not be shortlisted for the judging panel.
The judging team will comprise: executive board member, non-executive board member, clinical representation, staff side and patient representation. The Golden Hearts Awards Team withholds the right to change the configuration and membership of the judging panel based on availability of panel members.
The decision of the judges is final.
Three entries will be short-listed for each category, with those short-listed invited to an evening awards ceremony in 2024. Where judges’ scores are close in any given category they reserve the right to shortlist more than three entries.
Shortlisted individuals will be allowed to bring a guest with them to the awards evening.
There will be a limit of five invitations per team for the evening awards ceremony. However, where teams require additional guests they may submit a request to the Golden Stars Awards Team via nlg-tr.comms@nhs.net and additional spaces will be granted once all RSVPs have been received depending on the number of spaces available.
If individuals or teams are unable to attend the awards ceremony then they may appoint a deputy to attend and if appropriate, collect the award on their behalf.
Where nominations are shortlisted for the evening awards ceremony the nominator will be invited to the event. Only one nominator is allowed per submission. Additional tickets may be requested for colleagues that assisted with the nomination, but these cannot be guaranteed.
Where there are multiple nominations for one individual, team or project the Golden Stars team may combine the nominations in order to maximise the chances of success in any given category. In this event only those nominations in excess of 250 words will receive an invitation with a maximum of five invitations issued. If more than five nominations are received in excess of 250 words the Golden Stars team reserves the right to determine the best five nominations based on the quality of the submissions and allocate tickets accordingly. More tickets may be requested via nlg-tr.comms@nhs.net and additional spaces will be granted at the discretion of the Golden Stars team.