National Coming Out Day was founded in 1988 and is celebrated every year on 11 October. The day is an opportunity for LGBTQ+ people to be out and proud, celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, and raise awareness of LGBTQ+ issues to colleagues, family and friends.

A new, state-of-the-art, simulation centre was launched at Goodmayes Hospital last week, by the Clinical Effectiveness Team, which will enable mental health and community professionals to develop their skills in simulated scenarios.

Congratulations are in order for Kerry Barriffe, Senior Practice Development Practitioner at NELFT, who was awarded the Royal College of Nursing London BAME Rising Star Award 2020.

October is Black History Month in the UK and staff across the Trust will be celebrating the occasion with a host of different activities. Black History Month has been recognised for many years with a month-long programme of inspirational events and workshops - honouring the achievements, culture, and rich history of Black people. 

Going above and beyond to care for and protect a patient is just one of the reasons Respiratory Nurse, Justine Reed, was announced as the winner of the Chair’s Special Recognition Award in our staff Make a Difference awards, which celebrates our winners from 2019-2020.

Record breaking flu vaccinations and a genuine commitment to protecting her colleagues and the NHS during winter is why Community Mental Health Nurse, Diane Quinn, won the Harm Free Care Award in our staff Make a Difference awards, which celebrates our winners from 2019-2020.

Doing everything she could to make sure the wellbeing of children was protected is just one of the reasons School Nurse Jennifer Iheanetu was announced as the winner of the Working in Partnership Award in our staff Make a Difference awards, which celebrates our winners from 2019-2020.

It was cheers and applause all round as Assistant Director Immediate Care, Debbie Feetham, was announced as the winner of the Leadership Award in our staff Make a Difference awards, which celebrates our winners from 2019-2020.

Working exceptionally hard to improve our service in Morris Ward to benefit not only patients, but staff too, is one of the reasons Assistant Ward Manager, Karen Mills, won our Improvement to Service Award in our staff Make a Difference awards, which celebrates our winners from 2019-2020.

There was not a dry eye in the hospital when Healthcare Assistant Salim Danyen was announced as the winner of our Outstanding Achievement award in our staff Make a Difference awards, which celebrates our winners from 2019-2020.

Putting patients first and working hard in one of them most complex areas of healthcare are just some of the reasons our Acute Crisis and Assessment Team (ACAT) was chosen as the winner of the Team/Department award at our annual staff Make a Difference awards.

Queens Nurse, Liz Alderton, a Community Nurse Team Lead and Specialist Community Practice Teacher, based at the Harold Hill Health Centre in Havering received a British Empire medal (BEM) for services to nursing over the weekend.

No one made a difference quite like our Community Staff Nurse, Rose, who went away with not one, but two awards at our annual staff Make a Difference awards which celebrates our winners from 2019-2020.

We are delighted to announce the appointment of our new Executive Director of People and Culture. Simon Hart will join the Trust in December 2020. Simon was appointed following an in depth recruitment process that included a panel and two stakeholder groups. Colleagues from a range of roles and backgrounds across the Trust, as well as external partners, all formed part of the process.