Meet our DAISY award winners for May 2024

Nurses and midwives from Northampton General Hospital have received DAISY Awards for the way they have cared for patients and their families.

 
Photo caption: Staff Nurse Tammy Vo (left) receives her award from Chief Nursing Officer Nerea Odongo (right).

Staff Nurse Tammy Vo, from Esther White Ward, was nominated by Charlotte Kenny from Northampton for the way she supported her grandmother at end of life.

Part of her nomination read: “Tammy cared for my granny when she became palliative on Esther White Ward at the end of last year. Tammy was so compassionate, thoughtful and her level of consideration for my gran and us was beyond anything I had seen before. It meant we never had to ask for anything. My mum who is also a Nurse, was amazed by Tammy and I was so proud of NGH for having such nurses. We truly believe she was a gift to us that night and the following day would have been so much harder if it wasn’t for her.”

Photo caption: Priya Sivaprasad (centre) receives her award from Chief Nursing Officer Nerea Odongo (right) and Associate Director of Nursing Lisa Husbands (left).

Staff Nurse Priya Radhamani Sivaprasad from Brampton Ward was nominated by her colleague Deepthi Ajai after she enabled a pregnant lady to stay with her partner at end of life.

Part of her nomination reads: “Priya handled the situation very easily, she liaised with the labour room staff, making a proper plan with the help of the palliative team to try and fulfil their wishes. It was really an amazing experience for me as she is an end-of-life link nurse who made an extra effort to delivery extraordinary care to the patient and his entire family by making his last moments a memorable one. It was really amazing as his partner presented her with a lovely gift (Lord Ganesha as they noted she is Indian belongs to the Hindu community) and a thank you card with Indian style greetings. They were extremely thankful to Priya for what she did. This example is one of many.”

Photo caption: Staff Nurse Gigarin Chako (centre) receives his award with the team on Cedar and the family who submitted the nomination.

Staff Nurse Gigarin Chako from Cedar Ward was nominated by family member Liz Donabie.

Part of her nomination reads: “Our 90-year-old mum was admitted to Cedar ward after spending time with A&E and Willow wards. Gigarin treated our mum with respect. As our mum took a final breath, I informed him and, despite doing a drug round, he came immediately to support us and check that our mum had passed. He was always there in the background, working hard and being a caring empathetic nurse. Thank you Gigarin, continue doing what you are excellent at and obviously a natural. Respect, empathy, calmness and loyalty to your patients cannot be bought but you possess all in abundance.”

Photo caption: Clare Flower (left), Ilene Machiva (centre left) and Nerea Odongo (right) give Denita Dilvaer-Vladi (centre left) her award.

Midwife Denita Dilvaer-Vladi was nominated by Emily* who supported the birth of her baby after she had two difficult pregnancies.

Part of her nomination reads:

“She saw me at my most vulnerable, remained calm when I was terrified and treated me and my partner with dignity and respect. She believed in me, gave me her support, and encouraged me even when I had no self-belief left and succumbed to the fear that we would lose this baby too. In the chaos and panic, my trauma history took over and I was lost to panic. In this moment she left me borrow her calm, holding my hand and assuring me that I was still in control when I felt most lost. Our baby was delivered safely. She is truly a credit to the profession and whilst I did not get the birth I envisaged; I am confident that we made the best choices we could thanks to Denita."

Photo caption: Nerea Odongo (left), Clare Flower (centre left) and Ilene Machiva (right), name give Emmeline Mitson (centre right) her award.

Midwife Emmeline Mitson was nominated by Kerry* for the way she supported her pregnancy after she experienced a loss in 2022.

Part of her nomination reads: “At the end of my pregnancy, I quickly knew a homebirth was not going to happen and things were now becoming very scary as everything I didn’t want seemed to be happening. But still Emmeline was there to make sure things went as smoothly as possible. She contacted the perinatal team to make sure I would get the mental health support whilst I was going through this unplanned experience, she made sure she kept in contact every step of the way. I have never ever experienced the special, uniqueness of a pregnancy journey with a midwife like Emmeline because despite the struggles of my mental health, the unpredictable ending and labour she just always made things be OK. Truly a huge credit to the NHS and midwife team. If it wasn’t for Emmeline, I don’t think I would be thriving as much as I am now with my new healthy baby girl. A true angel.”

Staff received their awards from NGH’s Chief Nursing Officer, Nerea Odongo, and other senior nursing staff, along with an accompanying pin badge, “Healer’s Touch” sculpture, and cinnamon buns for her team.

Nerea said: “I am delighted and very proud that we are able to honour the extraordinary care and compassion which our nurses and midwives provide with DAISY Awards.

“Tammy, Priya, Gigarin, Denita and Emmeline all have some amazing nominations and have clearly gone above and beyond to support their patients, mothers, and families.

“A big thank you also to local people for the way they continue to nominate our members of staff and enable them to be recognised for the incredible care that they deliver.”

To nominate a nurse or midwife for a DAISY Award go to the DAISY awards page.

You can also nominate teams at Northampton General Hospital for an award if you want to thank more than one person for your care and support.

*Patient names are given with consent and sometimes anonymised.