Recognition Day thanks OUH staff for COVID-19 response
16/12/2020
This article is more than three years old.
Prof Sir Jonathan Montgomery (left) and Dr Bruno Holthof (right)
Staff working for Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) - which runs the John Radcliffe Hospital, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and Churchill Hospital in Oxford and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury - will receive an extra day's annual leave to say thank you for their amazing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
OUH Chair, Professor Sir Jonathan Montgomery, and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Bruno Holthof, made the announcement in their Christmas message to OUH staff.
They said: "2020 has been a year of unprecedented challenges for all of you, both professionally and personally, and while the Trust Board recognises it is impossible to put a price on the phenomenal efforts and personal sacrifices which you have made, we want you to know how much you are appreciated.
"As a token of appreciation, all staff will receive an extra day of annual leave in the 2021/22 financial year, to be taken on your birthday if possible - a Recognition Day for all staff substantively employed by OUH. We are also in discussions to extend this to frontline staff employed by our PFI partners on the different OUH sites.
"Taking a break is vital for your mental and physical health, and never more so than now when we have all experienced a very challenging period in our lives."
Jonathan and Bruno thanked in advance all those staff who will be at work over the festive period in our hospitals to ensure that our patients continue to receive the best possible care.
In their personal message to staff, Jonathan and Bruno also said: "At a time when the NHS has never been busier, it is so important that we all make the time to thank colleagues for what they do, to celebrate our achievements as #OneTeamOneOUH in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, to reflect on the unprecedented time we have all lived through this year, and most fundamentally to be kind to ourselves and each other."