The international DAISY Award has arrived at BWC
The awards are an international program that honours and celebrates the skilful and compassionate care nurses and midwives provide every day.
Anyone can make a nomination and every person nominated will be recognised with regular overall winners chosen and surprised with a special presentation for them and their colleagues.
Daljit Athwal, the Trust’s Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, said: “I am very pleased BWC is joining the small but growing number of organisations that have introduced the DAISY Award.
“It is incredibly important that we recognise and celebrate skilful and compassionate care as we know how hard our nursing and midwifery colleagues work and how much they value hearing the difference that their efforts have made.
“We also know that when we do that we encourage even greater efforts to provide compassionate care.”
Daljit said that the DAISY Award, which is funded by our Charity, was a special accolade for colleagues.
She said: “I have seen the awards in action in other organisations and I know how much it means to those who receive them - they are truly special moments for them and the patients and families who take the few minutes it takes to nominate them.”
Nominations can be made via forms across our sites or by visiting the Trust’s website or scanning the QR code on this page. 
Every nominee will be recognised and we will announce a number of winners throughout the year.
Each winner will get a surprise presentation on their unit, a certificate and ‘Healer’s Touch’ statue, a DAISY pin and cinnamon rolls for them and their colleagues.
All winners are also posted on the Trust’s DAISY section of the website and have a page on the DAISY Foundation’s website.
The DAISY Award is a recognition program to celebrate and recognize nurses and midwives, proportionally our largest professional group, by collecting nominations from patients, families, and co-workers. It is a way to thank nurses and midwives who go the extra mile and for the care and kindness they provide.
It is one part of our Trust-wide reward and recognition programme that recognises and celebrates all our colleagues through these awards, local divisional schemes, our monthly Star Awards and of course our annual BWC Spirit Awards programme.
Heather Petts, Associate Director of Nursing (Medicine), has led the development of the DAISY Award at BWC. She said the DAISY Awards were established by the family of J. Patrick Barnes who died from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura in 1999 in the United States. During his care, they deeply appreciated not only the immense clinical skill but also the enormous compassion shown to Pat and his family by his nurses. When Pat died, they felt compelled to say, “thank you!” to nurses in a very personal way.
Heather said: “ That thank you has grown into an international movement celebrating nurses and midwives, one we are now rolling out across Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Birmingham Women’s Hospital and across our mental health services.
“Providing compassionate care isn’t easy – recognising it and saying thank you is, so please take the time to nominate one of our amazing nurses and midwives. ”
Mark Brider, Chief Executive Officer at Birmingham Women’s and Children's Hospital Charity, said:
“Every day our nurses and midwives go above and beyond to provide our patients and families with exceptional care and compassion. As the Trust’s charity, we’re proud to play our part in bringing the prestigious Daisy Awards to our organisation so we can honour and recognise these individuals.”