Two NHS catering heroes, who helped to keep frontline staff and colleagues going throughout the pandemic, have been honoured with national awards.
Margaret Valenti and Joe Gilbey from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s catering teams have been recognised by the National Hospital Caterers Association for their outstanding work.
Joe, who is Head of Retail Services, won a National Leadership Excellence Award. At the beginning of the pandemic, he worked with colleagues to get food to those staff working on the COVID frontline, particularly for those who might be confined to wards such as ICU, to get access to a free, hot meal during the night and early morning. Joe also worked to ensure that tea, coffee and biscuits could be sent out to vaccination centres as they were set-up.
He said: “We were pulling out all the stops to support our frontline. It’s been good and we’ve had great feed-back about the quality of the food and great support from our local vending company.”
Speaking about his award, he said: “I was delighted and surprised – I wasn’t expecting my name to be called, but it’s been great to get national recognition for our work and it’s good for the wider team at NHSGGC.
Margaret, who works as a business support manager, created a blog to help keep colleagues in touch, particularly colleagues who were no longer able to work in hospital settings. Eventually, she would pen 47 blogs, which have now been turned into a book, providing a unique record of the first 9 months of the pandemic.
She said: “It was a great way of communicating and before we knew it, it just grew and grew.
“It really showed how people were coping, what they were doing during the initial stages of the pandemic, but the crucial thing was it identified the people behind the role and kept people in touch, particularly those who were shielding or couldn’t attend the workplace.
Margaret won a Special Recognition Award for her efforts. She added: “I’m absolutely thrilled. It’s so nice to be recognised – we’re caterers and what we often get is complaints!”
Billy Hunter, Deputy Director of Facilities, at NHSGGC, paid tribute to the award winners. He said: “When the pandemic began, our teams responded immediately and effectively, providing support for those at the frontline and their wider colleagues across the health board and beyond.
“I want to congratulate Margaret and Joe for their well-deserved awards. Along with their teams, they epitomise everything that is great about the wider NHS Family. They stepped up when things got tough and worked to help others and I’m incredibly grateful for their efforts.”
