Prestigious Daisy Award presented to first UHNM midwife

A community midwife from University Hospitals North Midlands (UHNM) has been awarded a prestigious award after a colleague nominated her for being ‘the epitome’ of everything a leader and midwife should be. 

The Daisy Award for Extraordinary Nurses and Midwives recognises the extraordinary, compassionate care that nurses and midwives provide to their patients and their families every day. 

Louise Williams, who retired from UHNM this year after 38 years service as a community midwife nominated Lizzy Gill for the Daisy Award after having such a positive impact on her and the team.

Louise said: “I was a member of the team at UHNM for 38 years and as you can imagine during this time I have had many managers and seen many changes in midwifery. During my time at UHNM Lizzy was one of the most professional, caring, and compassionate leaders I have had the pleasure to work with.

“'Our goal as midwives is to create positive practice environments and to positively impact on patient outcomes, patient and staff experience and I think that Lizzy is the epitome of this. She gives 100% support to the whole team and has gained the respect and confidence of all her colleagues.

“Her leadership and dedication has not only had a positive impact on me but has also had a profound effect on the way the team supports each other. I am so pleased that her contribution to the Trust and the families in our care is being recognised by this award.” 

Lizzy, who is the first midwife at UHNM to receive the Daisy Award, was joined by UHNM Chief Nurse Ann-Marie Riley for the presentation. 

Mrs Riley said: “I was incredibly proud to present Lizzy with her Daisy Award. Her nomination highlighted how her fantastic leadership style positively impacts the both the team and the well-being of her patients. It was an absolute pleasure to recognise the positive impact she makes. 

Lizzy said: “I am so honoured to receive this Daisy Award. I love managing the team, everyone is so great to work alongside. I feel so passionate about helping people to want to come to work and enjoy being at work.”

Sarah Jamieson, Director of Midwifery at UHNM added: “Lizzy is one our highly valued community midwives and is also one our aspirants in terms of her future leadership goals. She is so wonderful and is really appreciated by all of her team members. She really shines and excels at all of our Trust values. 

“She is one of kind and we are extremely proud of her.”