Surrounded by Butterflies at the National Dementia Care Awards
This month, I’m privileged to report that a disproportionate number of finalists at the 5th National Dementia Care Awards were key figures within the Butterfly Scheme. With only five finalists per award, it was stunning that three of those in the “Best Dementia Nurse Specialist or Dementia Lead” category were Butterfly Scheme Leads!
Clockwise from top left: Lucy Frost (Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust), Ablen Dacalos (Frimley Park Hospital NHS Trust) and Sandra Nuttall (East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust).
It was an additional treat to meet up with other Butterfly Scheme colleagues from those trusts,there to support their finalists. Barbara was seated beside Lucy at the event (and what a happy photo!). In addition, Brighton & Sussex and East Lancs were contenders for the “Best Dementia Friendly Hospital” award; Lucy was joined in that by Graham Browne, who voluntarily supports so much of the good work being done in Brighton, and Sandra was joined by valued colleague Lisa Grendall. Airedale General Hospital’s Elaine Andrews was a worthy finalist in the “Dementia Care Inspiring Leader” category and Airedale was further represented in the “Lifetime Achievement in Dementia Care” category by Eileen Proud; Eileen is a former carer and energetically chairs The Friends of Airedale.
In partnership with Mednet, the Scheme itself was a finalist in the “Outstanding Dementia Care Product or Innovation” category, for its new evaluative system. Here’s Barbara with Kirti Tandel of Mednet, whose team have been so instrumental in creating a system tailored to the Scheme’s needs and ethos. Janet Farnhill (Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust), who was a key figure in creating the evaluative system and was the very first Butterfly Scheme Lead all those years ago, was unable to attend, but her photo appeared on screen, so we all applauded her in her absence!
Congratulations to all those finalists. I’m always aware of how special the Butterfly Scheme teams are in all the member hospitals, but this was an excellent opportunity to celebrate that and to applaud every team member who goes out to make a difference to people living with dementia or needing memory support.