OUH staff set to join NHS 75th birthday celebration at Westminster Abbey

A group of five staff from Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) will be among the special guests at a multi-faith service being held in Westminster Abbey on Wednesday 5 July to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the NHS.

NHS England is hosting the event for NHS staff, volunteers and partners to commemorate 75 years to the day that Aneurin Bevan, the then Health Secretary, launched the NHS in Manchester.

The guests will include five OUH staff who have been chosen to represent our OneTeamOneOUH by Trust Chief Executive Officer, Professor Meghana Pandit, and the rest of the Executive team:

• Cameron Bastable (Nursing Assistant) – for being recognised for his excellence as a Healthcare Support Worker Apprentice, nominated for the Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Awards 2023, before he completed his apprenticeship and became a Nursing Assistant in the Trust.

• Bridget Daly (Volunteer Services Co-ordinator) – for her dedication to supporting our volunteers who are key members of our OneTeamOneOUH and who received a special award from the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire for everything they did for patients and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Yassmin Khater (Service Manager for Renal & Transplant) – for her role as Co-chair of the OUH Women's Network until March 2023, including raising the profile of the menopause as a staff health issue which led to the development and launch earlier this year of the Trust’s Menopause Policy.

• Dr Taffy Makaya (Consultant in Paediatric Endocrinology & Diabetes) – for leading the Freedom to Speak Up team at OUH who were shortlisted for the Health Service Journal (HSJ) Awards 2022 before she stepped aside from her role as Interim Lead Freedom to Speak Up Guardian at the end of April 2023 when she became the Clinical Lead for Paediatric Endocrinology.

• Jane Martin (Surgical Discharge Navigator Nurse) – for being nominated and presented with a DAISY Award earlier this year in recognition of the difference she makes to patients and their families by going 'above and beyond' to deliver compassionate excellence.

Professor Meghana Pandit, OUH Chief Executive Officer, said: "I am very pleased that Cameron, Bridget, Yassmin, Taffy and Jane are representing all of us at this event. They exemplify all that is best about our organisation. It will be a very special event in Westminster Abbey as we mark 75 years of our National Health Service."