28/08/2026
We are very proud that Dr Morton & Dr Mitchell – along with their colleagues in the South West Team - have been nominated for the Group Team of the Year Award of Excellence!
The annual Moving to Excellence Awards shine a spotlight on the incredible breadth and diversity of what our colleagues achieve every single day - across our hospitals, community services, and everything in between – to care for and support the communities we serve.
Dr Morton & Dr Mitchell have always been passionate about looking beyond the GP surgery to provide the best possible wider care for all patients in rural Shropshire, ensuring that patients can be supported locally wherever possible.
As members of the South West Team Leads, they are part of the team who review and assess the care in the area and work together with all the local teams to make sure that patients can receive appropriate joined-up care, all whilst providing medical advice throughout the day to both Ludlow & Bishops Castle hospitals, doing daily Ward Rounds, AND running their GP clinics!
The passion and commitment of Dr Morton and Dr Mitchell reach out into the local community, far beyond the walls of Bishops Castle Surgery. The Bishops Castle team are very proud of them. We hope you agree that they and their colleagues in the South West Team absolutely deserve this nomination.
This is the full nomination:
“The South West Team Leads truly deserve to be recognised as Group Team of the Year they consistently demonstrate what effective, compassionate and collaborative leadership looks like in practice. They really embody locality working, bringing together clinical, operational and multidisciplinary perspectives to make decisions that are grounded in the needs of patients, staff and local communities. As a group, they work with openness, trust and shared purpose. They support one another, challenge constructively, and keep patients at the heart of complex service discussions. Their leadership has helped create a culture where teams feel listened to, involved and motivated to improve. A clear example of their impact is the way they are working hard to implement the locality model. They have really developed a model of joined-up care across the locality, moving away from teams operating in silos and towards a more integrated approach. This is evident in how inpatient ward rounds now work, with therapy, district nurse and community matron input supporting more effective planning. This has dramatically reduced failed discharges and discharge issues, improving the experience for both patients and staff. More recently, the introduction of the locality Neighbourhood MDTs has further demonstrated the team’s commitment to integrated care. They have been instrumental in working with partners from all sectors to identify people at risk, coordinate support earlier, and reduce avoidable admissions to the acute hospital. This approach highlights their ability to look beyond individual services and focus on what matters most: keeping people well, supported and cared for in the right place. All of the team not only support within the locality but also step up to help other teams across Shropcom when called upon. I am incredibly proud of what they have achieved and what they continue to do. They are a brilliant example of what can be achieved when people work together with kindness, professionalism and a shared commitment to local care. For these reasons, the South West Team Leads would be very worthy winners of Group Team of the Year.
