The inaugural Healthcare Spirit Awards, which took place on January 23 at Crowne Plaza Hong Kong Kowloon East, was an occasion to hail unsung heroes working in Hong Kong’s health care sector.
The awards, jointly organised by Classified Post, cpjobs.com and Jiu Jik, are the first in Hong Kong to recognise the achievements of health care practitioners, often in challenging and stressful circumstances.
The awards drew more than 120 nominations in their debut year. A total of seven winners from five major categories were honoured, with many other entrants granted a certificate of recognition. All the winners were selected by a judging panel composed of prominent figures from the health care industry.
Emphasising the need to publicly recognise and acknowledge the life-changing, palliative work of health care staff working, Alex Ho, general manager, recruitment, circulation and syndication business for the South China Morning Post, said, “I hope the awards have managed to gain more positive publicity for the industry as a whole so that the public will, from now on, pay more attention to the excellence and dedication of the sector’s diligent practitioners whose great deeds have always been going on behind the scenes.”
Ho believed the awards were a great success, helping to launch a long-term and sustainable platform for health care practitioners to exchange work experiences and strengthen relationships. “The role of health care practitioners in the lives of patients and their family cannot be overemphasised. Sometimes a polite greeting or a mere word of concern from them can make a whole lot of difference to a patient’s suffering. Though health care workers are often prone to shunning the limelight, they should not take their contribution lightly and should take great delight in taking centre stage at long last.”
The six-person judging panel was drawn from associations, universities and leading health care institutions. Professor Thomas KS Wong, president of Ginger Knowledge Transfer and Consultancy, was one. “The ceremony of this afternoon bore witness to the most genial of rapports between the people onstage accepting the awards and those in the audience giving rounds of applause,” he said. “None of them were going through the motions, as is often seen in long hours of pomp and circumstance. There was a great sense of camaraderie among the attendees. I believe it was a direct result of genuine teamwork of years’ standing. I was truly impressed.”
Professor Linda Lee Yin-king, associate head of the division of nursing and health studies at the Open University of Hong Kong, also praised the nominees. “The way you work with patients can have a great impact on people working with you. At the end of the day, your colleagues will look up to you as their role model and your influence will radiate from your excellence and result in a higher quality of service, benefitting patients and, in the long run, the industry as a whole.”
Professor Eric Chan, dean of the school of health sciences at the Caritas Institute of Higher Education, said, “Each and every one of the entrants was totally dedicated to their work, deeply empathised with their patients and was intent on self-improving in the hope of delivering better performances in the workplace. I was deeply fascinated by their boundless passion.”
Dr E Angela Chan, associate professor and associate head of the undergraduate division at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, School of Nursing, said many stories from the nominees highlighted the sterling work done in a difficult industry. “With little time and limited resources at their disposal, the local practitioners have remained undeterred and always been making great efforts in taking care of people with selfless love and genuine care.”
Dr Cheng Lai-ling, business director of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, urged the awardees to keep on improving. “Keep up the good work. Elevate the quality of service. All this is part of your mission. In this line of work, money is not the most important. The biggest reason for us to stick with health care services usually comes from some small things, such as an appreciative smile, a nod of gratitude or a big thank you from patients.”
Eva Yeung, vice-chairman of the Association of Hong Kong Nursing Staff (AHKNS), said, “As I myself am a practice nurse, I can identify with many of the stories told by the nominees. The way they managed to strike a balance between their health care career and family life never fails to strike a chord with me. I am glad that we received so many nominations as it is concrete proof that many in the industry are truly concerned with what they do and how they are viewed by others.”
There were five awards in total: “Spirit in Nursing 2017”, “Spirit in Care Work 2017”, “Spirit in Long-Serving Nursing 2017”, “Spirit in Nursing/Care Work (Team Award) 2017”, and “Inspiring Stories”, while “Spirit in Nursing” came with three categories, namely Junior, Middle and Senior. Liu Kin Yan, registered nurse of Health in Action, was the winner of the Junior Category; Wu Pui Ha, assistant superintendent of New Pine Care Centre, won the Middle Category. When accepting their awards, both winners reminisced about their years in the industry and the obstacles they had cleared, and said that the award was a big boost to confidence in furthering their career in the industry.
The winner of the Senior Category was Mak So Shan, nurse consultant (clinical of oncology) of New Territories East Cluster of the Hospital Authority. “I believe this award belongs not only to me but to the team I work with, day in, day out. I would like to say thanks to the SCMP for offering this opportunity to us practitioners of being recognised and eulogised. I hope this occasion will serve as a good showcase to attract more people to join our line of work.”
Chung Yuen King, caregiver at Pine Care Chun King Elderly Centre, was the winner of the “Spirit in Care Work” award. Overwhelmed by emotion, Chung was rendered speechless onstage before she could collect herself. “Honestly, I do not know what to say. No words can accurately describe how I really feel at this moment. I have been a caregiver for the past 15 years and I am indebted to many people for their help. This award will spur me on. I vow I will not let up.”
Lai Miu-yin, senior residential elderly service manager of Po Leung Kuk Elderly Services, won the “Spirit in Long-Serving Nursing” award. “Many thanks to the SCMP and my family, whose backing is paramount to my work,” she said, accepting the award. “I am also grateful to Po Leung Kuk for giving me much leeway as to how to act on my ideas of excellent health care. I would like to share this honour with my good colleagues. Their support is inseparable from what I have achieved today.”
The “Spirit in Nursing/Care Work (Team Award )” was won by the Virtual Ward Team – Eol Care at Home Setting from Hospital Authority, Kowloon Hospital. The team representative gave thanks to the SCMP, Kowloon Hospital and its frontline staff. “Our virtual ward functions as a movable intensive care unit in the community and enables terminal patients to receive treatment at home. We will work even harder from now on and live up to the expectations which this award implies.”
The “Inspiring Stories” award was won by Caritas Harold HW Lee Care and Attention Home of Caritas Hong Kong – Services for The Elderly. When collecting the award, the representatives said that they were delighted the judges had found their story remarkable. “We are also grateful to the SCMP for hosting such a meaningful event which lets more people understand the significance of our work and our contribution to society.”
HEALTHCARE SPIRIT AWARD WINNERS
Spirit in Nursing – Junior Category
Liu Kin Yan, registered nurse, Health in Action
Spirit in Nursing – Middle Category
Wu Pui Ha, assistant superintendent, New Pine Care Centre
Spirit in Nursing – Senior Category
Mak So Shan, nurse consultant (clinical oncology), Hospital Authority, New Territories East Cluster
Spirit in Care Work
Chung Yuen King, caregiver, Pine Care Chun King Elderly Centre
Spirit in Long-Serving Nursing
Lai Miu Yin, senior residential elderly service manager, Po Leung Kuk Elderly Services
Spirit in Nursing /Care Work (Team Award)
Virtual ward team – Eol care at Home Setting, Hospital Authority, Kowloon Hospital
Inspiring Stories
Caritas Harold HW Lee Care and Attention Home, Caritas Hong Kong – Services for The Elderly
