Published Friday 19 August 2016 at 15:29
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is celebrating its first ever nomination in the NHS England Kate Granger Compassionate Care Awards for porter, John Jackson.
John, 57, who lives in Oswaldtwistle and works as a night porter at the Royal Blackburn Hospital, has been nominated in the ‘individual’ category for the difference he makes to patients’ lives in hospital and the role he plays in the Trust’s new bereavement service, having been awarded the first ‘bereavement champion’ title back in October last year.
John is well known within the hospital for his interaction with patients, ensuring others follow his example which he sums up simply – treat others as you would like your family to be treated. As part of his role, he takes deceased patients to the mortuary and ward staff have been consistently impressed with his attitude and the way he shows the utmost dignity to patients and their families, accompanying them to the mortuary and reassuring them that he will take good care of their loved one.
John said:
I am so honoured to be shortlisted for this award but I really believe that I am only doing my job. I believe that everyone is an individual whether living or not and I move and talk to every patient like I would my own mother – compassion, dignity and respect are of the utmost importance to me. I will always introduce myself to patients, chat to them and if I’m moving someone to a new ward, I’ll offer to make them a drink and make sure they are settled. I see it as a privilege to be able to make a difference when people are ill and at their most vulnerable.
The Kate Granger Compassionate Care Awards are named after the late Dr Kate Granger who worked tirelessly to raise awareness around compassion in the NHS through her #hellomynameis campaign. Kate was able to select the shortlisted nominees shortly before she died last month and this year saw a leap in the rise of entries with the winners in the individual and team category announced at the Health and Care Innovation Expo in Manchester on 7th September.
Graham Urwin, Director of Commissioning Operations for NHS England – North (Lancashire) said:
I was delighted to read John’s nomination for the Kate Granger Compassionate Care Award and would like to personally thank him for the wonderful work that he does. John demonstrates genuine care and compassion in his work, supporting patients and their families during one of the most difficult times of their lives. These are exactly the kind of qualities that we value the most highly and want to see even more of in our NHS. His kindness, consideration and dedication to patients, and his natural ability to put their needs and feelings first, is an inspiration to us all.
The awards honour an individual, team or organisation whose compassion has made a particular difference to patient care, and demonstrate innovation, approaches that can be easily replicated elsewhere and make a difference in the long term to patients and carers.