AWARD WINNER 2024-25

Initial Recommendation

This nomination followed an initial recommendation from Sarah Bailey, Line Manager

Kay is amazing. She takes on endless amounts of tasks at one time and always completes them to a high standard. Kay joined the People Team a year ago and immediately took an interest in the co ordination of staff training. She was able to learn this new role in a short space of time and over the last year has transformed our approach to staff training and achieved exceptional results. Kay has not only improved databases, attendance and staff completion but she has also, through her planning, removed the need for a shut down training day, which has a significant impact on prisoners by removing restrictions to their regime.

When Kay came into the function last year our training delivery was low, with only 52% trained in C & R, 44% trained in Spear and PAVA and 44% trained in RPE. We were failing in our ability to deliver safety critical training and this was having an impact on staff and the care for prisoners. Within a year Kay’s planning and drive improved our figures to 86% in C & R, 91% in Spear and PAVA, and 76% in RPE. Not content with just increasing the figures of those we were targeted against, Kay also directed effort to get staff trained in Self Harm awareness following an increasing number of incidents and Leeds sadly becoming a cluster death site. We have moved from a position of limited awareness to having over 80% of our staff upskilled in the impacts of self harm, and how to manage risks (Kay recently extended this training to include non-operational staff). Not content with improving safety critical training completion, and making much needed improvements in delivery of self harm training, Kay has also managed to undertake a programme to train staff in first aid. Kay selected trainers and co-ordinated a massive training program which has delivered 170 completions of full first aid training success in less than a year. This is an amazing achievement.

What is even more exceptional is that Kay’s dedication extends to all and even when implementing new training processes she has been able to still support other teams in different departments. Kay is the go to person for information, support and assistance and everyone at Leeds is delighted to work with her because of the positive impact she has on everyone and everything and the kind and calm vibes she brings.

Kay works excellently on her own and as part of the team. She just gets on with it. Nothing is an issue for her. She genuinely and absolutely wants to contribute to making the prison the best it can be.

Numerous staff have commented on how much the training has improved since Kay started as training co-ordinator and how helpful she has been with the efficiency of training organisation and delivery.

Supporting Documentation

Testimonials

Staff see Kay as instrumental in the effective development and implementation of training at HMP Leeds. Kay has significantly improved processes, attendance and communication in the space of a year and is respected by all those who work with her. These are comments from staff working with Kay in support of the work she has undertaken:

“Kay is awesome, she is so helpful and has had a massive impact on safety at Leeds. Booking, sorting and chasing to ensure everything happens when it should. She organises the databases, selects the staff and arranges the dates which allows others to access the training they need to be at their best”.- Ben Miller

“The improvement in training led by Kay, has taken a massive step in improving outcomes for Leeds, as her manager it is a joy to work with her as I know she has got everything under control and is exceptionally helpful to her colleagues”. Sarah Bailey

“As a trainer delivering at Leeds I can honestly say working with Kay is a breeze. I give her the dates, I turn up and everything is sorted. I cannot overstate how helpful this is, allowing me the time to prepare and deliver knowing the ground work has been covered and everything is in place, an absolute superstar. Kay is able to build relationships with all sectors of the prison service, whether directly employed staff, stakeholders and partner agencies or the volunteer sectors”. Kelly Franks

“Her quick thinking and friendly approach mean she has the trust of those she works with and all will regularly approach for support. She is dedicated to the team around her and goes above and beyond each day!”- Tom McCruden

Additional Information

Kay is an exceptional member of staff who has an ability to adapt to any task presented to her. The team at Leeds have such a high confidence in her work that all staff members just deal with her directly, knowing she can be trusted to tell it as it is and get it done.

Kay has improved our training returns, improved training attendance and ensured we have a high proportion of staff trained in not only safety critical training such as C & R, Cell Fire (RPE), and Safety (SASH), but also training support for answering prisoners’ complaints, line managers support in absence management. All of which serve to up skill our teams and create a better culture and environment. The impact Kay has had on her own cannot be understated. In addition she has undertaken a range of tasks such as sorting our uniform ordering processes.

Recently our Head of Safety was required to provide evidence to the PPO of our progress in improving safety critical training, specifically making sure staff felt competent and confident in identifying risks and triggers for suicide and self harm. Although we regularly monitor this data at various meetings, putting it in the context of demonstrating our progress really did highlight how far Kay has helped us come. We have gone from 68% of only operational staff to 82% of all staff trained in Suicide and Self Harm Awareness. This shows the impact that a band 3 administrative officer can have on the bigger picture in a prison as complex as Leeds (over 500 staff and 1110 prisoners with the prison population changing every few months due to churn).

Kay is hugely respected by her peers and consistently demonstrates the values of the establishment and wider Prison service and identifies the importance of her role in developing staff. Kay has impressive communication skills and has built strong relationships with internal and external partners. The best example of this has been the creation of a pool of staff who are First Aid Trained. Kay sought volunteers to become First Aid trainers, then set up courses to train them with St John’s. Kay planned attendance schedules to ensure we are now in a position to have 24 hour first aid cover for both staff and prisoners.

Kay’s single handed dedication and drive to improve, and succeed is leading to positive outcomes at Leeds, where staff feel invested in and developed and is a major factor in why our retention rates are so positive- staff believe they are invested in and they want to work for us.

Head of Safety was recently asked to provide evidence to the PPO of the progress in improving safety critical training, specifically making sure staff felt competent and confident in identifying risks and triggers (R&T) for suicide and self-harm. Although we regularly monitor this data at various meetings, putting it in the context of demonstrating our progress really did highlight how far Kay has helped us come. We have gone from 4% to 36% in the last 6 months for R&T training specifically, and Kay has ensured that she has prioritised risk identification for the staff in reception and early days in custody, now having 100% of the staff upskilled in R&T.

Sign Off

Kay has been a diligent and committed member of our team. In the short time she has been with us she has revolutionised our training systems. In a reception prison with over 500 directly employed and many non-directly employed staff, and with many challenges posed by being a cluster death site and front-loading staff site (with high numbers of new staff at times), to create efficiency of planning and delivery which means that we no longer have to disrupt our regime (and cause risk to prisoner safety from self harm) by not having to shut the regime is an incredible feat.

For a band 3 to have this kind of impact on a prison is exceptional. We are putting Kay forward unanimously as a management team as there is no part of the prison that does not benefit from her quiet determination and commitment to making things better. She is a true greaser of the wheel and hidden hero.

Our prison would not be in the position it is without her. Which is a phenomenal accolade for a Band 3 administrative officer, and one who has only been in our prison a year.

Rebecca Newby

Governor, HMP Leeds