Stella Panagiotidou – Unsung Hero | Our latest updates

Stella Panagiotidou – Unsung Hero

Stella Panagiotidou Quality award winner for unsung hero

In November, our Quality Awards 2024 celebrated people across NHFT who are making a difference to patients, service users and carers every single day. 

A huge congratulations to the winners, those who were highly commended, and everyone who was nominated.

Following on from the awards, we're taking a closer look at some of the winners and asking them to tell us more about their roles and find out why they were nominated.  

 

Always having a smile, and knowing when people are having a challenging day, are just some of the qualities which helped a popular member of the catering team win a very special award.

Catering assistant, Stella Panagiotidou, who is a familiar face at Café Vie at Berrywood Hospital, won the Unsung Hero Award, at NHFT's Quality Awards, given to people whose contribution is perhaps taken for granted, but is nonetheless hugely important in terms of making a difference for patients, visitors, and NHFT colleagues. 

Stella (pictured with her award and certificate) joined the Trust 12 years ago as a 'domestic' and became a catering assistant in 2015. As well as working in Café Vie, she also helps deliver meals to patients on the wards.

"I help out wherever I'm needed. We aim to produce quality meals for the patients, and a quality service for the cafeteria, and make people happy," said Stella, "The team I work with are amazing; they're like my little family. We always support each other if we're short-staffed, for example. Everyone has their own qualities."

In her role, Stella meets a lot of patients, their families, and NHFT staff and says this is one of her favourite parts of the job. She has a knack of remembering what people usually order and sometimes she will have food and drink ready for staff so they can grab it on the go. 

"Sometimes coming down to the café is a breath of fresh air for people who might be having challenging times on the wards. Often people are quite chatty, but sometimes you pick up on the fact they're maybe having a difficult day. By making them a coffee or a panini, it can just be the break they need. You get to know people on a daily basis if they're working at the hospital or visiting. For a lot of people, the café is a bit of a safe haven where they can just talk, and I'm always happy to listen."

Stella said that sometimes going the extra mile is about being that little bit more kind to people when they need it. She said she tries to put herself in their shoes, and treats them kindly and compassionately in the same way she would want to be treated.

She said: "Sometimes we don't know what's going through people's heads, whether they're a nurse, doctor, director, patient or visitor - every person will have their difficult days, so I think it's nice to have someone friendly and welcoming. I try to take the edge off whatever people are going through, and always have a smile for them."  

"My Grandma always used to say 'If your belly's happy, then you're happy', so my priority is always to make sure people are OK, they have what they need, and if they need some food, a drink, or a quick chat, I'm here."

Talking about the Quality Awards, Stella said that being nominated took a while to sink in.

"When they called out my name on the night to say I'd won the award, it was suddenly real," Stella said, "I felt so proud; I didn't expect an award, this is my day job, I love it to bits, I love interacting with people. To win this award shows that anybody can do it, you don't have to be in a clinical role, you just need to go that extra mile. It's lovely, not just for me, but for the team to be recognised for what we do every day."

 

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