SST Director Jenie Owens and University and College Liaison Task Team Vice Chair, Adam Gaunt, have both received top awards from community healthcare services provider Connect Health, at a glittering event, held recently at the Hilton Bankside, London.
Adam took the national award for ‘Leader of the Year,’ and similarly Jenie took the top accolade in the category, ‘Living Our Values – People Centred.’
The annual awards recognise a host of different qualities as well as employee skills and performance, and the whole workforce is given the opportunity to vote.
Jenie, a Graduate from the University of Hertfordshire, joined Connect Health in 2022 and has swiftly risen through the ranks becoming a Team Leader in 2023. While her team is spread out geographically, Jenie has been creative in bringing them closer together. She was recognised for her team building skills, not only through encouraging learning across sites but also putting a smile on colleagues’ faces through marking celebrations, organising events and creating fun projects and competitions.
Adam is passionate about rehabilitation and he is clearly bringing some of the skills and knowledge he used in his former role at Hartpury University to the NHS. Working in Witney, Oxfordshire, he has been recognised for the empathy he has with his colleagues, his professionalism and approachability, creating a culture of fun and space for self-expression, while maintaining respect and high standards. He was praised for his caring approach towards wellbeing as well as performance; a great mentor and true team player.
Adam has worked hard to give patients gym access for their rehabilitation; something that fits readily into the Government’s newly named, MSK Physical Activity Hubs. He understands that rehab takes time and one size does not fit all. Adam challenges his colleagues to find the optimal plan for each individual patient, encouraging therapists to move away from the model if it doesn’t fit the patient.
Connect Health has been a driving force in recognising the talents of The SST’s Graduate Sports Therapists. It was an early identifier of skills and abilities as opposed to titles and has brought together several professions under the MSK Clinician banner. The Connect Health management team has also been instrumental in developing career pathways for Graduate Sports Therapists.
Jenie and Adam are passionate about Sports Therapy and are both championing the setting up of SST student placements. While in its early stages, the project offers great opportunities for students, wishing to work in an NHS clinical setting, to get a foot on the Sports Therapy career ladder.
So, what of the future for these aspiring young therapists?
Jenie said:
‘I love the clinical side providing patient care but realise that I cannot do this forever. I also suffer from time to time with fatigue as I have auto immune issues. Longer term, I will look at a possible managerial role in operations or with our Service Team.’
Adam, who also runs his own private clinic, Adam Gaunt Sports Therapy, is keen to progress his career with Connect Health but in a different direction to Jenie. He said:
‘Our Tier 1 has a clinical focus and rather than progressing to Tier 2, which is more triage, referral and complex cases, Tier 1 is more rehabilitation and working with the patients to manage their conditions.
‘I would like to try and influence policy at Tier One by developing the rehabilitation role and pushing the boundaries– creating projects around rehab, with more goal setting, objective measures, benchmarking and quality testing.’
We wish them both every success for the future.
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