GP star Emma receives award from Barnsley care home

A CARE coordinator from a GP surgery in Barnsley received a surprise during a visit to one of the care homes she looks after.

Emma Bairstow, who works at Hillbrow Surgery, in Staincross, provides the link between several of the area’s care homes and the GP.

She helps coordinate the care for dozens of elderly residents, making regular visits to speak with care home staff, relatives, and the residents themselves.

During a visit to Deangate Care Home, on Towngate, staff and residents were ready to greet Emma with a special surprise.

The care home awarded her “Star of the Month” and presented her with a bottle of prosecco as a thank you for her hard work and commitment to those living at the care home.

Emma said: “It was a lovely surprise and I felt privileged to be part of the team at Deangate. It’s always a pleasure to be recognised for the hard work I put in to help the residents.”

Emma has been a keen supporter of the care home’s Love to Move chair-based age and dementia friendly exercise programme, which has been running since the start of 2023 and is now being delivered to the wider community.

As part of her job as care coordinator, Emma also supports housebound patients and mental health patients in Hillbrow. She is also one of six cancer champions in the Barnsley area, part of a programme funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research to improve the survival rate by reaching out to poorer communities suffering from health inequalities.

Janie Wike, Barnsley Primary Care Network manager, said: “The work Emma and all care coordinators within every GP practice provides is invaluable to the care homes and to all the Barnsley patients they support.”

Rachael Dawson, home manager at Deangate Care Home, said: “Today we surprised Emma Bairstow with her Star of the Month award.

“Emma is our care coordinator for Hillbrow GP surgery and she is absolutely amazing. She always goes above and beyond what we ask of her.

“She is so committed to helping not only our residents but the team here at Deangate. We think Emma embodies the values of empowerment and compassion.

“Thank you for everything you do for us all. We hope you enjoy your prosecco.”