When I started working in the mortuary just over a year ago the department as a whole was awful. There was no structure, nobody knew what their role was, and team morale was non-existent. We had an inspection from the HTA (surprise) and it didn't go well. From this time Sharon was employed as our manager and very quickly things started to change. Sharon took the time to observe what we do and how we did it, she implemented things from a nurse's point of view that massively improved the conditions of working. Care plans were in place to ensure that the deceased had weekly checks and were changed. She sorted all of our job roles and gave us structure. She helped improve the relationships with the funeral directors - due to the timely manner of releases, the condition of the bodies, and the morale of the staff. She provided us with a voice, listened to our concerns, and also saw for herself how the mortuary had basically been abandoned with no help or support - and fought for us with high management to give us what we deserve. Sharon worked tirelessly during the rebuild to change EVERY deceased, check the ID, and move all the bodies down to the surge mortuary in the car park. She packed up the whole mortuary and did not stop working. She comes in on the weekends to help with the on-call if needed and she just constantly strives to deliver the best service and to boost the team. She has repaired our working relationships with the bereavement team as we have morning huddles to bring us together as an extended part of the team.

From a personal point of view, I cannot thank Sharon enough for all she has done for me. She put me on the training course to become an APT, and is always there to help me with my course and training. She is approachable for personal problems, including health issues and always is concerned about my wellbeing. I can categorically say that I would not have stayed in this job if it wasn't for Sharon, I would have left a long time ago (due to the conditions of the mortuary) - she was like the light at the end of the tunnel. Personally, I don't think she gets enough recognition for everything she has done for us and the DAISY Award would be something to show her how much we appreciate and love her!

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Sharon, is the kindest, most passionate manager I've had the pleasure of working with. When she started in the mortuary, Sharon took her time in getting to know us and the individual jobs that we do, including watching me do a post-mortem. She felt strongly about learning what we do and why we do it. With her experience within the hospital prior to us, she was able to introduce new ways of caring for the deceased. Sharon added a huge amount of care and compassion, this includes checking every day that each deceased is clean and well cared for during their time here. Sharon built a team, which the previous years we had struggled with a constant staffing level. We now have a team, looking forward to coming to work and enjoying what they do, feeling like we really are making that difference to those in our care. Sharon also pushed me to complete the training course I have attended for many years, but due to staffing and workload this was never possible to finish - Sharon gave me this time to focus and pushed me into making it to completion and finally qualified, this is time & attention I had never previously received. For this, I will be eternally grateful.

Sharon was recently a part of an HTA inspection, they hold the mortuary's license. Before she arrived the inspection did not go well. We then were removed from the mortuary to have a full refurbishment, Sharon saw us through all of this. She would work hours upon hours, day and night to move the deceased so she knew they were being cared for, she would create care plans for them so the level of care is always maintained. She spoke personally to families who were struggling & gave them her full support. She would constantly check on her staff to make sure everyone was ok. When the refurbishment was done she would then organise, and get everything in place with the team for a new beginning. When the HTA inspection happened again recently, the feedback from them was a rewarding one. This would never have been possible without Sharon as our manager.

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Sharon stepped in to manage the mortuary approximately 1 year ago, in that time she turned an important service of the hospital that was somewhat old and uncared for into a well-organised department. She has managed to bring a once separated and very tired team together to work in a cohesive way to support each other and provide the best service to our patients and families, across the medical examiner's office, bereavement, and mortuary. This can be supported by the recent HTA review of the department which has noted the improvement throughout the service under Sharon's management.