Outstanding Social Care Awards for Willows Care Home
Willows Care Home has received a Chief Nursing Silver Award for its outstanding contribution to Health and Social Care, while Gail St Juste-Alcide, its Clinical Manager, has been given a Chief Nursing Silver Award in recognition of her own impact on the sector.
The Chief Nurse Adult Social Care Awards celebrate the contribution of individual and teams of nurses and care workers who go above and beyond in their roles to provide outstanding care, leadership and inspiration to colleagues, patients and service users. Both awards were presented in person at the Romford-based home recently by Professor Deborah Sturdy OBE, the Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care, who afterwards enjoyed afternoon tea with residents and staff.
The 72-bed nursing home has had an interesting few years. In 2020 Registered Manager Claudia Ramsamy won the East of England Great British Care Awards’ Social Care Covid Hero Award for her courageous leadership during the pandemic. Two years later, the home enjoyed a visit by Sajid Javid, the then Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and in 2023 the Department of Health and Social Care chose Willows as the venue to film a social media video to begin a national consultation around careers in care. Barely a month later, Willows was chosen for yet more filming, this time a few scenes for BT Productions’ care home based film drama Restless, starring the award-winning stage, film and TV actor and producer Lyndsey Marshal. Finally, last month, Gail St Juste-Alcide attended a reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by His Majesty King Charles III to celebrate the contribution of international nurses and midwives working in the UK’s health and social care sector, where she chatted with the King about her experiences of the pandemic.
“It has certainly been an interesting few years,” says Claudia Ramsamy. “I’m so proud of everything that my staff and the home have achieved. They have consistently gone over and above and really deserve this wonderful accolade which we would like to dedicate to our lovely residents. I’m so delighted for Gail, too. She has brought tremendous knowledge and experience to her role of Clinical Manager and is an incredible support to myself and the team as well as residents and families. We are so lucky to have her!”
Gail adds: “It is an honour to receive this award. I could not have done it without the input of Claudia and the incredible team.”
The staff who were particularly nominated as part of the team award include the following:
Emma Charleston – Healthcare Assistant
Amalia Dincu – Head of Housekeeping
Michelle Golbourn – Head of Activities
Cheryl Greaves – Medicine Technician
Jaspreet Kaur – Care Assistant
Kailey Kellard – Administration Assistant
Petar Mollov – Facilities Technician
Iulia Musca – Registered Nurse
Desislava Pavlova – Medicine Technician
Russell Salantandol – Care Assistant
