Star Awards: Our Winners

Learner of the Year

Support Medical Secretary Grace Hughes is 2022’s Learner of the Year. Joining the Trust in November 2021, she had previously worked at Your Health Partnership and joined SWB as an apprentice in level 3 business administration. She stated her entry into the Trust was “really welcoming: my manager was undertaking an apprenticeship too, so she really understood the process and what I was doing. I felt really welcomed by the team.”

Grace works in trauma and orthopaedics and took on a new responsibility early in her journey at SWB: when a new consultant joined the team, a dedicated secretary was required, and Grace took on this role alongside her existing work. She was rebanded after starting in this position to ensure her pay reflected her workload and responsibilities.

Discussing her day-to-day, Grace states, “My role entails providing support for the fracture clinic: booking appointments, both face to face and virtually, and ensuring letters are sent out to patients.

“As a secretary to a consultant, I have to ensure clinics are running at capacity, manage dashboards, follow the patient journey, and type up clinical letters, as directed by the consultant, and send these out to patients. Sometimes the terminology can be difficult to get your head around, but I’ve learnt a lot about the clinical vocabulary now!”.

It’s Grace’s commitment to her role and learning that earnt her the nomination and win as Learner of the Year. She was really shocked, telling us that her colleagues nominated her but were sure to keep it private: “I got the email telling me I had been shortlisted just before going on holiday, and I was really pleased. The team are so lovely and all nominated me in secret.

“I was so nervous on the night itself, but I had an amazing time. My table had lots of people nominated from different categories, including some who had been at the Trust for over 40 years. I was seated near to Employee of the Year Andy Churm, who gave me pointers and career tips – he was amazing to talk to and so full of knowledge!

“The night itself was a brilliant opportunity to learn more about the Trust and network, and winning was such a shock.”

Grace’s apprenticeship finishes in early 2023, and she hopes to be qualified in May 2023 at the latest.

“I’m currently completing my project and revising for my exams –I’m hoping to have everything finalised by mid-March. Work has been really helpful, enabling me to keep my study day consistent and focus on my learning.”

In the future, Grace hopes to stay at SWB, progress in her role and gain more confidence. She notes her desire to become a highly experienced team member, stating within her team and department “some people have been here a really long time, maybe 15 or 20 years. I’d like to achieve that, to get to the point where I know everything I can possibly know and am able to mentor new members of staff.”