Two practice managers have been jointly crowned Practice Manager of the Year 2020 in the 12th annual General Practice Awards.
Charlotte Luck, practice manager at The Meads Medical Centre in East Sussex, and Emily Spalding, practice business manager at The Swan Surgery in Hampshire, both won the award, which recognises the remarkable work carried out by practice managers across Britain.
The General Practice Awards, held by Management in Practice’s publisher, Cogora, saw hundreds of submissions this year, with judges commenting on the ‘extremely high calibre’ of entries and the ‘true challenge’ of creating a shortlist and deciding winners for the 11 categories.
Charlotte Luck said: ‘I’m really delighted to have received this award. It’s completely unexpected but an absolute honour. For me being a practice manager is about being part of an amazing team, which works together to deliver fantastic patient care. We have that at The Meads Medical Centre, and I am proud of the whole team; they give their all every single day.’
Emily Spalding said: ‘I was delighted to have even been nominated and am absolutely thrilled to have been awarded Practice Manager of the Year. This year has been a particularly challenging one for all of general practice, so I feel honoured to have been recognised despite the significant pressures we have all faced.
‘The year has been filled with both hard work and reward! For our practice, it started with a CQC inspection in which we were awarded ‘Outstanding’. Immediately after which, we went straight into the throes of dealing with the Covid pandemic – not even time to celebrate. I’ve been very proud of our whole team’s resilience during this unprecedented time.’
She added: ‘Finishing the year, we become a Wave one site delivering the Covid vaccination programme, which has been another challenge, but hugely rewarding working with eight other local practices and seeing the benefits of this work in vaccinating our patient population. I’d like to thank the fantastic team at Swan Medical Group who are a dedicated and talented group of people that I love working with. I couldn’t have done it without them.’
The award for the Receptionist Team of the Year 2020 went to The Maltings Surgery in Hertfordshire.
Rebecca Jolliffe, events director, at Cogora, said: ‘Healthcare professionals continue to astound us with their commitment, innovation and drive. After an extraordinary year, the General Practice Awards wanted to recognise those going above and beyond, even before the challenges of 2020. The entries, as ever, were exceptional and we would have loved to acknowledge everyone, but are delighted to crown our winners who represent the achievement of primary care.’
