Award-winning services

Over the years, the quality of HPFT services and staff have been recognised by external awards. These have included:

HPFT social workers scoop silver and gold at Mental Health Social Worker of the Year 2019

Gold winner Thea Radburn said: “It was a real honour to attend the awards and hear about all the amazing social work going up and down the country.  I was so glad to be able to share the experience with those who have supported me in the Trust since I started here as a student.  I’m so proud to work in an organisation that champions the role of social workers and what they can bring to supporting people with mental health problems.”

Ingrid Richardson, who won silver said: “The Social Work Awards was a fantastic opportunity for the profession to come together and share stories of good practice. Social work has a more important role than ever to play in supporting the rights of some of the most vulnerable members of society.  My social work career wouldn’t have been possible without such a supportive organisation."

HPFT’s Executive Director for Quality and Safety and Chief Nurse Dr Jane Padmore attended the awards and said: “There are around 90,000 social workers on the HCPC register and having two finalists, from HPFT recognised at these national awards is a fantastic achievement in itself."

CAMHS Home Treatment Team triumphs at 2019 HSJ Awards

The team were one of three finalists from HPFT who attended the awards on 6 November. All our finalists went through a rigorous selection process and were chosen for the finals, based on their ambition, visionary spirit and demonstrable positive impact on the experiences of our service users and staff:

  • The CAMHS Home Treatment Team was a finalist for the Acute or Specialist Service Redesign Initiative category - London and the south and won!
  • The Care Home Support Service by MHSOP South West Herts was a finalist for the Community or Primary Care Service Redesign category - London and the south
  • The Business Intelligence and Data warehouse team was a finalist in the Connecting Services and Information category for Spike2.

HPFT’s Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Finance Keith Loveman attended the ceremony with our finalists and said: “I’m really proud of all our finalists for receiving this well-deserved national recognition. They have all embraced new ideas for improving our services, with passion, hard work and dedication – I couldn’t ask for more.I’m also delighted that our CAMHS Home Treatment Team won their category. They’ve developed a highly effective model of care which is making a real difference to the lives of young people and is being shared nationwide to benefit others.”

Image: Our CAMHS Home Treatment Team together with HPFT’s Deputy Chief Executive Keith Loveman, receiving their coveted HSJ Award from Actor, James Nesbitt

 Sam Slaytor - Stonewall’s East of England Trans Ally of the Year 2018

In recognition of her efforts to promote diversity and inclusion Sam  received the award for Stonewall’s East of England Trans Ally of the Year.

Whilst she is very modest about her achievements and not a fan of gongs – “I’m doing my job ” she says -  Sam appreciates the benefits that such an award brings in raising the profile of trans issues, demonstrating HPFT’s commitment to Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and giving trans people an identifiable resource for information and support. 

The 2018 National Positive Practice in Mental Health Collaborative (PPiMH) Awards 2018

The HPFT Wellbeing Team won the category for IAPT our Community Perinatal Team was highly commended in the Perinatal Mental Health category.

Chief Executive Tom Cahill said: “I’m so proud of our staff being recognised nationally for their outstanding work. It’s not just about the awards - it’s about great people doing great things for our service users.”

The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) service provides an integrated service with West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust and Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust for people living with long term conditions like diabetes.  The team is already the regional champion in the Excellence in Mental Health Care category from the NHS70 Parliamentary Awards and has now won the IAPT award at the PPiMH awards. The team beat tough competition from many other worthy entries from all around the country.

The Community Perinatal team was Highly Commended at the PPiMH awards for creating a dynamic new team supporting women in Hertfordshire who are either experiencing or at risk of developing a range of mental illnesses (as well as their babies and families) from pre-conception to the baby’s first birthday.

Tom Cahill - HSJ CEO of the Year 2017

Towards the end of Tom Cahill, our CEO was named as the HSJ’s Chief Executive of the Year.  Tom sais of the award “It is a huge honour and one of the many things that made me proud that evenings were the judge’s words when they referenced ‘a leader and an organisation that puts service users and their families at the very centre of his trust’s work.’ I truly believe that winning this award was not only in recognition of my contribution and leadership but a reflection of HPFT and our 3000 or so staff who deliver great care day in and day out.

"I am proud to be the leader of an organisation that puts service users first.” 

 Tom has overseen major transformation since he took on the chief executive role at HPFT in 2009 - including developing new models of care, new facilities and addressing the trust’s Good to Great strategy.

CAMHS Eating Disorders Service -  HSJ Award winner 2016

In 2016 our CAMHS Eating Disorders Service won the HSJ Award for Compassionate Patient Care for their Hospitals at Home scheme.  The two day course was created to teach parents skills to help their children overcome eating disorders.  This lead to a reduction in the demand on CAMHS clinics being reduced and funding was increased to develop the eating disorder service. HSJ judges said the scheme “feels very person centred” and “really focused on prevention and early intervention”.