Ealing Woman Named Social Worker of the Year

Natalia Masternak ranked top in Cygnet Social Work Awards

Natalia Masternak

January 5, 2023

A social worker at the Cygnet Hospital in Ealing has named as the company’s Social Worker of the Year.

Natalia Masternak supports women with mental health difficulties and those suffering from eating disorders at the centre on Corfton Road.

In December, she scooped the top prize at the Cygnet Social Work Awards, a celebration of all Social Workers and Social Work Assistants at the healthcare company which has over 150 facilities across the country.

She received ten nominations from different colleagues who described her as “knowledgeable, thorough and passionate about involving service users and carers as much as possible”.

She said she was “happy and delighted” to receive the award adding, “I was watching the awards ceremony with my manager and, when my name was called, I was really proud to be recognised.

“This acknowledgment means a lot to me, it reflects the hard work, passion and dedication I have for my role. It has definitely given me validation and boosted my confidence.

“I am extremely thankful to the interdisciplinary team for forwarding my name for this award, it is truly appreciated and it will continue to motivate me to be more determined to make a difference to the people who use our service.”

Natalia joined Cygnet Ealing Hospital in June 2018 as a Student Social Worker, progressing to a Head of Social Work Department and a Safeguarding Lead role. She works across the two wards at the hospital, New Dawn Ward which provides treatment, care and support for women with a personality disorder and Sunrise Ward, which provides a highly specialised eating disorder service for women, including those with extremely low BMIs. Natalia is a Safeguarding Lead for both wards promoting safety and protecting individuals with care and support needs from abuse and neglect.

Natalia added that last year was an enormous learning curve as her role expanded from being a Social Worker and Safeguarding Lead to also working therapeutically with families. She is also training to become a Family Therapist which describes as a “real privilege”.

“The best part of my job is being able to directly work with patients and their families at the hospital. Social work is so much more than just helping people; it's providing comfort, options and making sure things happen and that a real difference is made, for an individual and their families.”

CEO of Cygnet Health Care, Dr Tony Romero said: “We recognise the difference that our highly talented and passionate social workers and social work assistants make for our services users every single day.

“These awards were an opportunity to show our social workers and social work assistants at Cygnet how much they’re valued and appreciated. Through the nominations process we saw so many wonderful examples of how they go above and beyond and step up to work outside of their role, sacrificing their time and dedication for the benefit of the individuals in their care. I congratulate Natalia for all she has achieved and for her passion in always putting service users at the heart of all she does.”