Published on: 20 October 2026
In the run-up to Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s Honouring Exceptional and Really Terrific Staff (HEARTS) Awards 2026, the Trust will be spotlighting an inspiring person, team or service from each award category whose work is making a positive difference. This spotlight recognises Vicky Hulland from the Trust’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), who has been nominated in the Productivity, Sustainability and Innovation Award category for her influential work exploring how ambient voice technology could support clinical practice.
The award category is being sponsored by Patchwork Health, a healthcare workforce technology company.
While completing her Advanced Clinical Practitioner training, Vicky developed an interest in digital ambient voice technology, which is designed to support clinicians with tasks such as producing clinical documentation from conversations, transcribing those conversations via voice recognition and ordering content into structured written notes. Vicky showed initiative and leadership by working with one technology provider to secure free trial licences for CAMHS colleagues.
Vicky designed a mixed-methods study for a dissertation to examine the technology’s impact. Her research identified potential time savings for clinical staff and benefits for work-life balance, while also exploring how acceptable the technology was to colleagues and gathering practical insight to support wider implementation.
The evidence she generated helped inform a business case for the CAMHS Triage and Assessment Team to pilot ambient voice technology. During the pilot, Vicky has continued to lead by example, using the system in practice, providing timely and clinically relevant training to colleagues, exploring technical developments and working with the wider project team to measure and understand its benefits.
Vicky is also a strong advocate for other digital innovations and contributes to internal and national forums, sharing learning and supporting conversations about how technology can improve services.
Kimberley Peters, Transformation Lead at Derbyshire Healthcare, who nominated Vicky, said: “Vicky has shown fantastic leadership throughout this work. She developed the evidence needed to understand the potential time savings, impact on work-life balance and practical considerations for introducing ambient voice technology. During the CAMHS pilot, she has continued to be a role model for its use, supporting colleagues and working with the wider team to realise its benefits.”
Vicky’s story reflects the purpose of the Productivity, Sustainability and Innovation Award, which celebrates a person or team that has found new ways to deliver projects or services, embrace technology and demonstrate better value for the population.
Further HEARTS Awards 2026 spotlights will be shared in the lead-up to the awards ceremony on 21 October, celebrating individuals and teams across each category who embody the Trust’s values and make a difference to the people and communities they support.
The awards will be presented at a ceremony on 21 October. The awards are being sponsored by Arden Partnership, Browne Jacobson, Hill Dickinson, LIO, Patchwork Health and Thalamos.
