DHSC reps win Individual Impact Award 2025

Naa Acquah and Chloé François-Oatway were awarded this year’s Individual Impact Awards at the FDA Annual Delegate Conference in recognition of their work to increase the visibility of the union during a time of organisational change.

The 2025 Individual Impact Awards were presented Chloé François-Oatway and Naa Acquah, for their proactive organising work in the FDA Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) branch during a time of significant organisational change – which has led to a 16% increase in membership.

Impact Awards are presented every year at the FDA’s Annual Delegate Conference to members, activists, or reps to recognise the contribution they have made to union campaigns, engagement, branch development, recruitment, casework, or negotiation.

Acquah is the Convenor and François-Oatway is the Organising Lead of the FDA DHSC branch. They were each nominated for the leadership and proactive organising  they have displayed in response to the DHSC and NHS England merger, the department’s Voluntary Exit Scheme, and expected job cuts of up to 50% in the department and its agencies announced earlier this year. François-Oatway and Acquah, with the support of their branch members, increased engagement and organising activities to recruit, listen to members, and collect information on these issues.

They have dramatically raised local visibility and the profile of the union with the employer, holding a number of union meetings open to non-members, hosting information stalls in offices, keeping members informed with regular communications, and working on a member-led pay negotiation.

Discussing their strategy, Acquah said:

“Our strategy this year has been to make the FDA more visible to staff across DHSC. We want our members to know that we are there working hard to represent them, especially during a period of uncertainty”.

François-Oatway added:

“When coming up with an organising strategy, my aims were to be inclusive, proactive and in listening mode. We opened up our townhalls to non-members to help raise our profile and show colleagues we are here to help in uncertain times.

“I try and approach every organising activity with a recruitment hat on to grow our numbers and make our position in negotiations stronger”.

As a result, membership in the department has grown by 16% in the first four months of 2025 alone – with new members in all grades from HEO to SCS. Via their organising work, the branch has also successfully increased its rep capacity and has identified several new activists. This could be seen in the DHSC branch’s delegation to ADC – which was their biggest in recent years, where delegates saw FDA General Secretary Dave Penman present François-Oatway and Acquah with their awards. Other branch reps have also built on the organising strategy and hosted recruitment stalls at DHSC locations across the country, such as Quarry House in Leeds.

This growth in membership and rep base has improved the union’s bargaining position with the employer, helping François-Oatway and Acquah and the rest of the branch committee to effectively support members through the organisational change. They have already successfully influenced the department to adapt their Voluntary Exit Scheme plans to improve outcomes for members.

After receiving the 2025 Individual Impact Award to recognise her role in the branch’s organising strategy, Acquah said:

“We are thrilled with the award and it has given us and the branch a really push to keep up the momentum with our work. It’s going to be a busy few years with the changes in the department and it’s exciting to know that our branch will continue to grow if we keep putting in the hard work.”