Bupa announces staff Legends
The major provider has given away $82,000 in prizes for staff who go the extra mile for residents.
Bupa Legend winners:Robert Rae (Chef Bupa Bexley), Kelly Bal (Assistant in Nursing Bupa Queens Park), Ondine Charleston (Assistant in Nursing Bupa Greenacre).
Bupa Care Services has awarded $82,000 in prize money to staff ‘Legends’ who routinely go the extra mile to improve the lives of residents.
Award ceremonies were held simultaneously in four different states and linked via a webstream.
More than 100 Bupa staff members went into the draw for eight regional prizes ranging from $7,500 to $2,500.
Among the major winners was bride to be Ondine Charleston who has worked at Bupa Greenacre for over a decade.
As the top prize winner in her region, Ms Charleston received $7,500 which she will use to fund her dream honeymoon.
“The wedding was taking all of our time to organise,” Ms Charleston said. “We just hadn’t had the chance to plan a honeymoon.
“Now I have won this fabulous prize we are headed for Daydream Island. It will be fantastic.”
The general manager at Bupa Greenacre, Karen Noble said Ms Charleston sets a high standard in resident care.
“She is very compassionate and takes the time to get to know the residents – she wants to make sure they are as independent and happy as possible,” Ms Noble said.
“She makes sure she treats everyone as an individual. She develops relationships with them and their families and she puts things together specifically for them.
“We had a new resident who loved the Manly Sea Eagles so Ondine downloaded as many pictures of the team as she could find and made a wall poster for him.”
On top of her other duties, Ms Charleston regularly organises barbecues and tipping competitions for the residents at Bupa Greenacre.
“It’s a fun filled environment and there’s always a lot of laughter when she is around,” Ms Noble said.
“This Bupa Legend Award is a great way for the company to reward staff for the good things they do and it acts as a motivation for the other staff as well.”
Not all staff at each site in South Australia were entered into this competition because “management” made a choice for the site to “not enter” because “they didnt want to” so all staff at some sites in South Australia missed out on entering into this competition so when I went to this so called “worthwhile event” I was shocked to hear that some staff were “stripped of their right” to enter by their managers – of all people! So much for a “caring environment”, you should have asked the staff what their thoughts were before printing this story – staff accross Adelaide?? Just a thought!