Earlier today we held our annual Long Service Awards ceremony, with Chief Executive, Rob Aitchison and Deputy Chief Executive, Jonny Hammond presenting the awards.

They shared their congratulations, appreciation and certificates with a whopping 44 colleagues who between them have a combined NHS service of 1,337 years.

At the ceremony, colleagues shared about on their careers at CHFT and some of the things that matter to them:

• Emma Evans: "I love my job and the people I work with. I especially love seeing doctors return to CHFT. I fact I remember seeing our current Medical Director, Neeraj Bhasin, return as a consultant."
• Joanne Arundale: "I absolutely love working with our patients and being a part of helping them get better. It's so rewarding."
• Randolf Roldan joined fellow colleagues from the Philippines to collect his award (see below). They joined CHFT in 2000. He described working at CHFT as brilliant. In fact he said working at CHFT is Caring, Honest and open, being part of a Family and working as a Team.
• Randolf's colleague Marietta added: "To be part of the Stoke Service is just fabulous, and seeing our patients get well again is just amazing."
• Lisa Jones told us how her career had changed over the years. She said: "The role has grown hugely and the Acute Response Team are supporting better care for deteriorating patients. We get in there earlier, making a difference and putting interventions in quickly."
• Louise Croxall is a nurse by background and recalls using a full Bic pen on her first day 25 years ago, but EPR has changed all that:"Digital has opened so many doors for CHFT. As soon as we started the EPR rollout I knew digital was the career path I wanted to focus on."
• Amanda Bird and Rachel Spence from the Community Division talked of their passion for improving peoples' lives in their own homes. Amanda said: "I ended up in Community by accident but it's just the best. I get up every morning looking forward to coming to work." 
• Jennifer Alvarez, said: "I love working at CHFT. In my eyes I'm here to serve our patients and was born to be a nurse."

Our Long Service Awards are an opportunity to recognise and thank our colleagues for their unwavering dedication to the NHS and the care of others. Here at CHFT we formally recognise this important commitment to colleagues who have completed 40 years’ NHS service and 25 years’ service at CHFT.

Congratulations to all our Long Service Award recipients: