The Clinical Services Department (CSD) of the MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM are the proud winners of the 2020 LSHTM Director’s Award for Outstanding Professional Services Team.

This award celebrates a team that is acknowledged as consistently high performing and that works exceptionally well as a team, using the skills of all members to execute the activities of LSHTM to a high standard.

The CSD Team were especially recognised and honoured for their outstanding contributions to The Gambia’s COVID-19 response, through a strong partnership with the Ministry of Health and the National COVID-19 Taskforce. Since March 2020, the CSD team has provided technical support to the taskforce, as well as professional care to COVID-19 patients in The Gambia, while ensuring the continuity of other essential medical services in the Unit’s clinics in Fajara and Keneba.

Accepting the award on behalf of her team, Dr Karen Forrest, Head of Clinical Services said, “Thank you for recognising the hard work and dedication of the clinical staff during this time.

I can’t name them all because almost every department in the Unit has been involved in supporting us. I particularly want to thank Dr. Helen Brotherton and Dr. Effua Usuf who came alongside me to support me early on in the outbreak when I was overwhelmed. I also want to thank the staff who have been redeployed from different research projects, and their PIs who have been willing to share their staff with us to support this effort. Most of all, I want to thank the staff who have been working in the team. They have been resilient, determined, flexible and compassionate in difficult circumstances. It has been a huge privilege to work with them as we have cared together for patients and staff. I am really delighted that the team’s work has been recognised in this way”.

Prof. Umberto D’Alessandro, MRCG at LSHTM Unit Director, said “We are extremely proud of the LSHTM Director’s Award received by our CSD. This is a well-deserved recognition for the high quality, dedicated work the CSD staff is providing to deal with the COVID-19 epidemic in The Gambia. Over the last few months, we had to adapt to a rapidly changing situation and I believe we did it successfully. The excellent work provided by our CSD, which also includes the follow up of COVID-19 positive staff isolated at home, is a good reflection of our capacity to respond quickly to an ever-changing situation. There are challenges ahead for us as a Unit, and more specifically for our CSD, but I am confident that we will be able to deal with them as efficiently as we have done now, thanks to the expertise and dedication of our wonderful staff”.

The LSHTM Director’s Awards recognise the wide range of innovative and high-quality work taking place across all areas LSHTM, ensuring that the dedication and commitment of our talented staff community is celebrated.