Medical staffing manager recognised for outstanding contribution during pandemic

Pictured: Emma Mellor, Medical Staffing Manager, won Employee of the Month for her work during the pandemic

A manager responsible for organising clinical staff during the pandemic has been recognised for her outstanding contribution to the trust. Emma Mellor, Medical Staffing Manager, led her team in redesigning rotas for junior doctors as they were redeployed to key areas such as A&E. Emma gave up annual leave, worked weekends and took on new tasks on top of her existing role to ensure patients were adequately cared for throughout the Covid-19 outbreak.

Dr Will Carroll, Consultant Paediatrician, said: “Emma has worked tirelessly for the last few months, supporting the medical trainee workforce and rota coordinators. She has worked in partnership with clinicians and the BMA to provide safe, workable medical cover and has worked both flexibly and stoically throughout, providing leadership and guidance where necessary and keeping 'ahead of the curve' with changes. Emma has kept patient and staff wellbeing at the heart of many difficult decisions and has remained calm, pragmatic, cheerful and resilient when balancing competing demands. As one of the many team members of staff who are perhaps less visible than clinical colleagues, I am very pleased that Emma has received particular recognition for her contribution.”

In addition to the challenges of organising medical staff over the pandemic, Emma also had to support her own team as they adapted to home working.

Ro Vaughan, Director of Human Resources, (pictured right), said: “It’s lovely to see Emma being recognised in this way. She has worked incredibly hard and colleagues have related how, even in the most stressful of times, they always found her with a smile on her face. Her contribution has helped medical teams battle on through an incredibly challenging time.”

Emma said: “I am extremely grateful for this award and would like to thank the medical staffing team, post-graduate education team and the rota coordinators for all of their hard work and effort which contributed to this nomination. Without them the response to the pandemic - changing rotas, enacting pay changes and managing the rostering system - would not have been achieved.”