Two clinical nurse leaders from the ASD/LD division have scooped anti-racism prizes as part of Black History month celebrations by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Awards.

Augustine Omotoso and Evans Akyeampong have been named the winners of the Making a Difference Award by their colleague Jennifer Mytton.

 Referring to Augustine she called him an “experienced and knowledgeable nurse, who also has extremely high standards of practice and immense levels of compassion”.

Augustine currently supports patients who have very complex individuals and are based on medium secure ASD wards within the hospital.

Jennifer described him as an “extremely passionate person who gets things done”.

She added: “His knowledge of the patient group and his therapeutic relationship with them is enviable and something he has worked extremely hard to achieve. Augustine constantly looks for ways to develop and strives for excellence in everything he does. We are extremely grateful to have him as part of our team and do not take for granted the hard work and effort he puts in daily.”

Evans was promoted into his current position less than a year ago and has made a massive impact in that short time.

Jennifer said he has shown “real leadership qualities” that have supported his ward to becoming a highly commended ward across the hospital site.

He joined his ward when it was newly created and played a large part in the patient welcoming committee.

Jennifer added: “He was, and continues to be, an integral cog in the ward machine, spreading positivity, proactive work and motivation throughout the team. This in turn has led to a number of patient improvements on the ward that can be directly accredited to him and his role modelling. “

Both staff members worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic and supported their patients and colleagues through extremely difficult circumstances including ward isolations and intense lockdowns.

 Their achievements will be celebrated in the RCN Journal.