Read the Latest From BOPDHB CE, Helen Mason - 5 December 2017 11 Dec 2017

I was delighted to celebrate the huge contribution made to our communities by the team members honoured at the Staff Recognition Awards in Whakatāne and Tauranga last week.

I was delighted to celebrate the huge contribution made to our communities by the team members honoured at the Staff Recognition Awards in Whakatāne and Tauranga last week. The awards recognise staff with over ten years’ service. The longest serving staff members recognised this year had served 59 years (Whakatāne) and two staff had each served 45 years in Tauranga. 

This is an event I really look forward to. It was great to see so many people there, along with their supporters. In healthcare we seldom stop to recognise what we ourselves have accomplished or achieved. The focus is always on delivering better care for our patients. It’s equally important for us to stand back sometimes and reflect on our teams’ accomplishments and contribution. 

The celebration represents what is so special about our DHB and, put simply, that is, our people. Across the DHB recipients provided 8,989 years of service to our community. I wish I had the numbers for the hundreds of thousands of patients and families cared for, the meals provided, the ambulance journeys made, the letters typed. Raewyn one of our librarians calculates that she’s issued 19,000 books and helped 15,000 people.

Read more from BOPDHB CE, Helen Mason.