Nominator Sangeeta Leahy, Assistant Director of Public Health, says that at the start of the pandemic Denise was a lead for children and young people and whilst she had a passion to reduce health inequalities she hadn’t previously worked in health protection. By mid March she had voluntarily taught herself health protection online modules over weekends so that she could contribute actively to protect our local communities from COVID A few months later she is recognised as the ‘go to’ person for all things COVID and educational establishment related in our organisation by the DPH, the DCS and most importantly by headteachers across our borough. She works tirelessly to produce high quality work and approaches each new piece of guidance that needs to be communicated with positivity, passion and enthusiasm, always answering to individual queries from schools with compassion and with the utmost professionalism. Nothing is ever too much trouble for her and if she is asked a COVID question, however mundane or difficult, she will always find an answer recognising the importance that is being placed in local public health teams to find innovative and credible solutions to previously unheard of problems. Denise is a credit to the public health workforce and should be proud of the contribution she has made to school children and families during the pandemic always seeking to provide reassurance whilst ensuring national guidance is translated into a format that is meaningful for the local population and helps to keep our young people and teachers as safe as possible.
