A HAMPSHIRE NHS worker has been nominated for an award after going "above and beyond" during the pandemic.

Julie Kemp could receive one of the accolades presented by Skills for Health (SfH), which helps healthcare bodies across the UK develop skills and strategies that provide patients with better outcomes.

Julie is an "amazingly dedicated" medical secretary employed by Calmore-based Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.

During the first wave of the pandemic she worked unpaid at weekends to help the NHS cope with the unprecedented challenges created by the Covid crisis.

A Trust spokesperson said: "The New Forest has an ageing population, with the number of over-65s easily exceeding the national average.

"Caring for the elderly is a large and complex task. In addition to her weekday role, Julie worked unpaid at weekends to enable the New Forest community geriatric medicine team to provide community assessments to elderly people seven days a week.

"Her outstanding commitment meant the frailty team nearly doubled the number of patients it saw at a crucial time.

"In addition to her day job supporting the hospital’s medical consultants, Julie stepped up to the plate to support wider administrative teams too, helping them adjust to working from home and acting as a role model and mentor."

Julie has been nominated in the operational support worker of the year category in the SfH Health Heroes Awards 2022.

Marianne Plater, consultant geriatrician at the Trust said: "Julie is an amazingly dedicated medical secretary who supports the New Forest community geriatric medicine team, which consists of three geriatricians, a specialist frailty GP and a trainee doctor."

Ms Plater described Julie as caring and compassionate.

She added: "She goes the extra mile to ensure patients and their families understand the assessment process and helps with co-ordinating investigations between departments to minimise the disruption for a patient.

“She supports us as a team to offer a high-quality service. Her work ethic, kindness and reliability are an example to us all.”

Rated "Good" by the Care Quality Commission, the Trust operates hospitals in the New Forest, Southampton and other parts of Hampshire.