I am writing this column fresh from one of my favourite nights of the year – the ELFT Staff Awards.

The awards are a chance for all of us to take a moment to celebrate our collective achievements and it remains an absolute privilege to honour the hard work and dedication of individuals and teams.

For me, there is something truly special in seeing so many people across our services and geographies taking the time to put down on paper how much they appreciate and respect their colleagues. In my mind every single person nominated and every colleague who took the time to submit a nomination is a winner.

There is something special about the way we work in ELFT and take care of each other. I truly appreciate it because I also know the same time and care is taken when it comes to how we deliver our services.

Our work can be complex and people don’t necessarily seek our help because things are going well in their lives. They are worried about something that is having an impact on their quality of life and that for us is something that we carry. The way that colleagues in ELFT do that so skilfully just touches my heart every day.

I do hope you take a few minutes to read the interviews with some of our incredible winners in this edition.

The awards are a way to say thank you to all colleagues for your commitment and dedication. I know the NHS is facing some challenges that have an impact on you day to day.

I am always heartened when I see your amazing approach to dealing with the challenges by asking ourselves and others ‘How could we do this in a different way? How do we work with our service users? How do we work with our partners?’

We’ve got a proven history of when we really work with our communities, when we work together well and we focus on the things that are important that we get results.

This is the time for us to really hone in on those and to ensure our values of care, respect and inclusivity continue to run through everything we do.