5* Staff recognised for work with patients with sensory loss
GP Ian Morris picked up a Five Star Award for the ‘exceptional service’ he gives to patients with sensory loss.
The award ceremony in the Senedd in Cardiff Bay was organised by the Wales Council for Deaf People and the Wales Council of the Blind to celebrate and highlight good practice in the NHS.
Dr Morris, whose practice is in Taffs Well, was proposed for the honour by a patient, Ian Cryer who reckoned he was the ‘best doctor he’s ever had’, according to the judges.
Mr Cryer was impressed that his GP made time for him at the end of surgery to allow for an extra bit of time to communicate, he can also text the doctor to arrange his appointments and said that he always replied promptly. Mr Cryer also found the GP ‘easy to lip read’.
Dr Morris told the audience at the awards event: “It’s very humbling and very rewarding to feel that one of your patients feels the level of care you give him is deserving of such an award.”
It was the first time that the two organisations had held the awards in which patients with sensory loss across Wales were asked to share their positive experiences.
Health professionals from across Wales were nominated by their patients. The top six were selected by judges to receive the awards although all those nominated were congratulated for their achievement.
Practice nurse Jayne Rees was among those nominated to recognise her excellent support for people with sensory loss in health care.
Jayne, who started nurse training in 1979, has been working for the last three and a half years as practice nurse at St John’s Health Centre in Aberdare.
She said: “I feel it is an honour to be nominated and so special that it is a patient who has done so.
“It isn’t just me, the surgery do a lot to try to cater for people with special needs.”
The surgery works to provide a sign interpreter for appointments with deaf people wherever possible, she said.
John Gilchrist from the Wales Council for Deaf People said: “We wanted patients themselves to actually select NHS staff and those working in that environment who they felt had provided above the normal standards of care.
“It is a massive thing for people to be nominated by the patients they serve and it is positive for the departments where they work too to see their colleagues recognised in this way,” he said.
