UHNM Employee of the Month Award Winner: Dr Ayat Mohamed

A paediatric registrar who’s helping to make night shifts a little easier for her fellow trainee doctors has been awarded University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust’s (UHNM) Employee of the Month Award. 

Dr Ayat Mohamed, an ST7 Paediatric Registrar at Staffordshire Children’s Hospital at Royal Stoke, has introduced a ‘wellbeing box’ filled with pick-me-ups and treats for junior doctors to help themselves to whilst on their breaks. 

More than 20 of Dr Mohamed’s colleagues from areas across the Children’s Hospital have so far benefitted from her wellbeing box, containing items such as sweet and savoury snacks, drinks, and toiletries. 

Dr Mohamed was nominated for the award by Dr Gayathri Varma Narendran, an ST4 Trainee in Paediatrics.

Dr Narendran said: “Dr Mohamed has consistently gone above and beyond to support the wellbeing of her trainee colleagues, demonstrating an exceptional commitment to fostering a positive and cohesive team environment, and I felt she needs to be recognised for the amount of hard work she’s put towards staff wellbeing at Staffordshire Children’s Hospital at Royal Stoke.

“On the night shifts we cover areas such as the Children’s Assessment Unit (CAU), Children’s High Dependency Unit (HDU) and the Children’s Emergency Department (ED), and at times they can prove  challenging. But in the middle of the night when you see the wellbeing box you know that somebody else has thought of you and prepared it. It’s not just the physical box and its contents, it’s the amount of effort that has gone into making it. It’s really kept our morale up and we’re really grateful.”

Dr Mohmed has also organised a Children’s Hospital wellbeing lunch, bake off and cultural day to showcase the skills and backgrounds of her colleagues.  

She said: “Whilst working on my night shifts, I thought what can I do to support my fellow trainee doctors. I volunteered as a Wellbeing Lead and organised a group for trainees to get to know each other better. It was during this group that I came up with the idea of a wellbeing box for colleagues to have something to help get them through their night shifts.”

Items for the wellbeing box are donated by consultants across UHNM.

Dr Mohamed explains: “My husband, Dr Nadir Kiddo, a locum Paediatric Consultant is my hero. He helped me with the idea by asking fellow consultants at UHNM to donate items to the box.”

Dr Kiddo said: “As a previous trainee doctor at UHNM knowing how challenging it can be at times, especially during the night, I thought the wellbeing box was a great idea. Helping to look after the wellbeing of our staff is paramount. If we look after each other, our patients will benefit too.”

Dr Mohamed was presented with her Employee of the Month Award by Jane Holmes, UHNM Deputy Chief Nurse. 

Jane said: “This is a very well-deserved award. Dr Mohamed has been phenomenal, demonstrating kindness, compassion, and humility. I admire how she looks after the phycological safety and wellbeing of her colleagues which has a knock-on effect to our patients. I want to say thank you to her, and I’m proud to work with such an incredible colleague.”    

Dr Mohamed said: “I was so happy and surprised when I got the message saying that I had won UHNM’s Employee of the Month Award. I didn’t realise my efforts were making such a big difference to my colleagues. To get this feedback I feel I’ve done something good. I didn’t expect it at all, I’m so glad my other trainees are feeling better for it.”