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There was not one, but two award surprises in store for long-standing consultant midwife Gill Harris during a perinatal visit at Peterborough City Hospital.

Double award-winning Gill received the accolades during the recent visit by Kate Brintworth, Chief Midwifery Officer for England; Vicky Cochrane, Deputy Chief Midwifery Officer for England and Martine Pringle, Deputy Regional Chief Midwife – East of England.

Gill was awarded a Silver Chief Midwifery Officer Award, which recognises midwives who go above and beyond to provide excellent care, leadership and inspiration. Gill was nominated for this award by a couple who she provided care to through their pregnancy journey, effectively advocating and supporting them to receive care which was completely individualised to their needs.  

Gill, who has been a midwife for 28 years, was presented this award by Kate Brintworth, the Chief Midwifery Officer for England, who recognised the significant contribution which Gill has mad both for this couple and the midwifery profession. 

Additionally, Gill was nominated for a Cavell Star award, which recognises midwives who shine bright and show exceptional care. Gill was nominated by a colleague following the outstanding care she provided to a service user experiencing a very complex maternity journey. Gill enabled the service user to feel safe and supported at a time of significant anxiety and concern.    

The Cavell award was presented to Gill by Melissa Davis, Director of Midwifery at North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, in her role as Chair of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Board, as the RCM work in collaboration with the Cavell Trust. 

Melissa said: “Gill is an incredibly dedicated, gifted and compassionate midwife, the support which she provides to service users and their families is exceptional; she consistently champions the provision of personalised care plans and has led on a regional workstream around informed consent with the Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP). Gill is thoroughly deserving of this recognition, and she is an inspiration to our team, encompassing the qualities which we aim to role model in the profession.”

Hosted by Melissa, Consultant Tarang Majmunder and Chief Executive Officer, Hannah Coffey; the visitors also had the opportunity to learn more about the work of the department, meeting and speaking with obstetric, midwifery and neonatal staff. 

Earlier this year, Gill was shortlisted in the Trust’s Outstanding Individual of the Year category, nominated for her exceptional kindness, caring nature, and unwavering support for both service users and colleagues.

Gill said: “It is very humbling and an honour to receive these awards for supporting personalised care to two families, The recognition I received is not only from my input into individualised care, but the support provided by the multi-professional teams, supporting choice. I am privileged to work at NWAFT as the consultant midwife but couldn’t do my role without the support of the multi-disciplinary team.”

 

 

Pic cap:

Consultant Midwife Gill Harris with her two accolades – pictured with Kate Brintworth, Chief Midwifery Officer for England; Hannah Coffey, Chief Executive Officer; Jo Bennis, Chief Nurse and Melissa Davis, Director of Midwifery and the group visit at Peterborough City Hospital.