Social Worker Recognised for Exceptional Contribution towards Public Service | Western Cape Government

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Social Worker Recognised for Exceptional Contribution towards Public Service

10 September 2014

Carla Brown, social worker in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, was recently recognised as the Western Cape’s Best Frontline Public Service Employee of the Year at the 2014 Provincial Service Excellence Awards held on 9 September 2014 at the Old Mutual West Campus in Pinelands.

The awards, hosted by Western Cape Premier Helen Zille, were designed to recognise and acknowledge extraordinary contributions to service delivery. It also aims to reward and motivate continuously good conduct and enhance employee satisfaction; ensure a higher level of service excellence and loyalty and encourage and reward service excellence which would result in improved working conditions.

The Best Frontline Public Service Employee of the Year award recognises an individual who has performed exceptionally well in frontline customer service delivery in the workplace. The individual is able to proactively identify and solve potential service delivery problems and takes initiative in going the extra mile in service delivery improvement on a continuous basis.

Brown was awarded the gold award in the category for Best Frontline Service Delivery Employee of the Year for the vital role she plays in supporting and comforting patients and their families at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital.

She was nominated by Prof. Mignon McCulloch, PICU consultant and nephrologist, and Prof. Andrew Argent, Head of the PICU at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, who described her role as “managing the psycho-social needs of both patient and their parents”.

McCulloch said: “We believe that she has consistently demonstrated the highest qualities of professional excellence in the field of paediatric critical care and social work. For the past 20 years, she has been a remarkable support to patients and their families during some of the most stressful and difficult times in their lives. She is an inspiration to her colleagues and share the burden for caring for the critically ill.”

The awards consisted of five categories:

  • Best Public Service Innovator
  • Best Frontline Service Delivery Employee of the Year
  • Best Ethics – Provincial Department
  • Best Implemented Programme or Project
  • Best Overall Batho Pele (Citizen-centric) Public Servant

Each entry indicated a commitment of people who saw or created an opportunity to make a difference. They are not ‘people simply doing their job’, they are people with vision who walked the extra mile and applied their sense of creativity and commitment to serve differently.

The month of September is also recognised as Public Service Month (PSM). PSM is an annual public service programme that is deeply rooted in the celebration and recognition of public servants and their contribution to the lives of ordinary people by putting ‘people first’.

As a category winner, Brown will be nominated for the 2014 National Batho Pele Excellence Awards, which will take place later this year.
*Carla was awarded the bronze award in the Best Frontline Service Delivery Employee of the Year at the National Batho Pele Service Excellence Awards.

Media Enquiries: 

Angelique Jordaan
Communications Officer: Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital
Tel: 021 658 5448
E-mail: angelique.jordaan@westerncape.gov.za