22 Sep Two prestigious award wins for Mid and South Essex Health and Care Partnership at NHS Communicate Awards
Local NHS communications staff have won two national awards to recognise their work during COVID-19 to make sure no-one got left behind re. COVID-19 vaccinations and for a thank-you campaign in tribute to the commitment shown by the wider NHS workforce.
Mid and South Essex Health and Care Partnership won the accolades against stiff national competition at a virtual awards ceremony held on Thursday 16 September hosted by comedian Marcus Brigstocke.
The first was for promoting diversity and inclusion for the Essex Vax Van initiative in partnership with Ford to reach out to diverse communities to encourage them to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The second was a highly commended award (runner up) in the staff engagement and internal communications category for the #MSEBigThankYou campaign.
For the past 20 months, NHS staff, volunteers, communities and teams across Essex have been working together to deliver the largest vaccination drive in our history. More than 1.5 million doses of vaccine have now been given to people across mid and south Essex. Uptake of the vaccine has been positive, but some groups and communities have faced additional barriers accessing the vaccine. This has always been a cause for concern, as sadly, these individuals are often the people who are more likely to be higher risk.
By working in partnership with communities and partners and using innovative ways such as the Essex Vax Van to reach a diverse population, the NHS in mid and south Essex has now a wide range of ethnicities and supporting them with the information they need to address their hesitancy. The Essex Vax Van programme has also focused on underserved groups, work which includes;
performing outreach vaccinations with African and Chinese communities
visiting traveller sites to vaccinate families
running vaccination clinics in the very heart of communities such as local mosques
The highly commended award win for the #MSEBigThankYou campaign was particularly poignant to remember, recognise and thank local communities and key workers.
The objectives of the campaign, launched in October 2020, were:
• Recognition – To celebrate the behaviours that mean so much and reflect people going that extra mile for one another and boost morale
• Inclusive – To enable any member of staff or resident to take part to thank key workers, volunteers or carers
• Inspire – To provide a morale boost to health and care staff across Essex who have achieved so much in very difficult circumstances
A number of partner organisations got involved in the campaign by promoting to their staff and on social media including Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, Essex Partnership University Foundation Trust and Healthwatch Essex.
Anthony McKeever, Executive Lead Mid and South Essex Health & Care Partnership and Accountable Officer for Mid & South Essex’s five CCGs said:
“I’m very proud that the hard work of the communications team has been rightly recognised for two excellent initiatives and all devised in-house reflecting the importance of teamwork across the NHS. It shows how partners and organisations working together can have a positive impact on health inequalities and lift the community’s spirits when times are tough at work and in life.
“My congratulations to the team for their hard work during the pandemic and to everyone across Mid and South Essex Health who were involved in making these campaigns such a success”.
