Your NHFT Quality Award patient choice winner
Kerry Mabbott is a Specialist Occupational Therapist at NHFT with more than 15 years of experience working with adults with Autism, Tourette’s Syndrome and ADHD.
Kerry’s dedication to providing outstanding care for her patients was recognised at NHFT’s annual Quality Awards, celebrating excellence across the Trust.
Nominated and shortlisted for the Patient Choice award for demonstrating and delivering quality care to her patients, Kerry was announced as the winner at the annual award ceremony in December last year for her dedication, going above and beyond in her role and supporting patients in all areas of their lives. She was recognised for making a difference for her patients, by identifying how partner organisations could amend their communication approach to meet the needs of Autistic patients.
The service user who nominated Kerry for the Patient Choice said: “Kerry has liaised with housing, the University I attend, social care, mental health services and other organisations. When other professionals have said that I wasn't 'engaging', Kerry worked to understand why that might be. It was simply, because they were calling me from private numbers with no notice. As an Autistic person, that is so difficult. She also spoke to professionals about communicating with me in other ways, like by text or email. Without Kerry taking the time to find out why I was having so much difficulty in communicating, I could have risked being discharged from the service.”
In her role Kerry works with patients 1:1 work to support them to understand their conditions and how this impact on daily functioning. She develops strategies to enable individuals to carry out their daily activities. In addition to working with patients, she also works in the Autism Advice Centre where she provides workshops and 1:1 support.
On discussing her nomination and award win, Kerry said: “I felt very humbled to be nominated by a client and to win was amazing. It’s not why I do the job but to be recognised is an honour.
“It is important to work with partner authorities (social care, other teams within NHFT, workplaces and charities) to ensure people understand neurodiverse individuals and how to make reasonable adjustments, supporting people to reach their potential.
“I advocate for clients on a daily basis to ensure they recognise their strengths and differences, enabling them to carry out daily activities that are important to them and that they need to do. My mission is to make the world understand neurodiversity and that we are all unique individuals who deserve respect and inclusion in daily life.”
Congratulations Kerry on your award win, and thank you for making a difference every day. Is there a person or team in NHFT that has made a difference with your care or the care of a loved one? If so, you recognise them by entering them into either the patient choice award or the engagement and involvement award. To keep up to date with when this year’s nominations open visit www.nhft.nhs.uk/qualityawards