Radar Healthcare's Hero Awards – Dr Nicki Gill, Malling Health

Before Christmas, we held our first Radar Healthcare’s Hero Awards to bring some sparkle towards the end of a difficult year. We wanted to acknowledge all the hard work in the health and social care industry and say thank you to a host of outstanding people. We asked you for your nominations and received so many that we made an extra category and awarded honourable mentions! Check out all the winners here. 

We spoke to Dr Nicki Gill, one of our Radar Healthcare Hero Award winners, about her nomination and her fantastic work during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Nicki was nominated for being a shining example of a great leader – returning from maternity leave early to support her colleagues during the pandemic, safely mobilising a COVID management service overnight, and much more. 

Over to Nicki… 

Nicki’s role at Malling Health 

I’ve been at Malling Health for around 4 years. I started my career as a GP, but realised that I really enjoyed leadership. Supporting by Malling Health, I chose to go down the leadership route but continue my clinical work too. As part of leadership, I really enjoy getting people on board and motivating them to get the best out of a team. I worked my way up to Medical Director where I oversee all the services that Malling Health hold in the Midlands, including GP surgeries and urgent treatment centres. I essentially ensure that the clinical side of things is running safely and effectively. 

Supporting her team  

I had my third child in February, just a few weeks before lockdown started. By March, I found that my team were absolutely rushed off their feet and it was such a scary time. I decided to come back to work early to help out and support our team. My baby was only 6 weeks old but I phoned work and started back on a part time basis, working up my hours as there was so much to do. 

How life has changed during COVID 

I think everyone’s life has changed during COVID. For me, I miss seeing my team and discussing any issues, working together to overcome them. We used to meet every morning to chat about what’s going on and the changes to COVID guidance. 

The whole of Malling Health work so closely together; we share PPE and staffing resources if any locations are struggling. It really helps that our services are close together so we can hop in a car and deliver more face masks or other PPE if somewhere is running low. 

Something I’ve noticed is how extra appreciative patients are. We’re often thanked for our work when we see patients, and they urge us to keep safe. We do still offer face to face appointments and that is appreciated greatly. 

A final thank you 

COVID has made us realise how by working as a team, we can get through anything. We’re so busy everyday that we don’t have time to take a step back and realise just how hard we’re actually working. It’s lovely to have awards like this as an opportunity to recognise people’s hard work, and I’d like to say thank you to everyone I work with for all their amazing efforts this year.