Rising star at Sunderland Royal Hospital cleans up at awards ceremony

A recent recruit has been hailed for her innovations and work to help lift her colleagues after she won a national award for her hard graft.

Leah Torr has won the Newcomer of the Year title in the National MyCleaning Awards, which was held in London.

She works for CHoICE, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust and provides facilities management to all Trust owned sites.

She is based at Sunderland Royal Hospital after joining CHoICE last year as a Trainee Assistant Manager.

She is a graduate of the University of Sunderland, where she studied education.

She has previously worked as a Housekeeping Supervisor in an Immigration Removal Centre and at Amazon as a cleaning supervisor, which also involved overseeing its waste and fork lift driving teams.

When she joined CHoICE, she became part of a short-staffed domestic management team, but has used her background to raise morale, bring the team together and find new and better ways of working.

She plays a big part in making new team members feel welcome and has created a training pack for those joining and ensures inclusivity across the board.

She has set up a weekly management drop in session, so the team can call in for a chat about anything they want to raise with a cuppa, as well as a general wellbeing check.

Another key area where she’s made a difference is the information around The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) so the domestic team have the details they need to hand.

The team say she’s also brought her IT and admin skills to the role, making a huge difference.

CHoICE colleague Kim Fraser, who operates the portering helpdesk, was nominated in the Leader of the Year category in the National MyPorter Awards. 

Sadly, she didn’t collect the title, but leaves her team proud.

Both awards are run by GV Healthcare, which provides support systems to Sunderland Royal Hospital.

CHoICE director Wayne Carr said: “While we’re disappointed we didn’t do the double and bring both awards home, we are unbelievably proud of both Leah and Kim.

“They do a fantastic job and I hope this shows how valued they are as part of our CHoICE team.

“Well done to Leah for her win and Kim is such a highly regarded member of our porting department. We hope they enjoyed the experience and know what they mean to us as colleagues.”

Rachael Hutchinson, is CHoICE’s Deputy Head of Facilities.

She said: “We are absolutely delighted that Leah won. We loved seeing her have that chance to be in the limelight and get the wider recognition about the good work she is doing.”

As part of her submission, CHoICE explained Leah’s colleagues describe her as a breath of fresh air, who has given them all a boost and a new excitement for their jobs again. 

She brings an excellent sense of humour to the job and her teammates enjoy their lively discussions and work together well.

Rachael added: “Seeing the positive changes and the work Leah has implemented and achieved in her short time with us, the Newcomer of The Year nomination – and win - is very well deserved.”

Kim started her NHS career in 2004. She has worked as a porter, then post room porter and has worked on the CHoICE portering helpdesk for a decade.