Welsh Ambulance Service Honours Colleagues at Staff Awards

Welsh Ambulance Service staff and volunteers have been honoured at an awards ceremony in Cardiff.

The Lord Lieutenant for South Glamorgan, Mrs Morfudd Meredith, presented awards for Her Majesty the Queen’s Long Service and Good Conduct Medal for staff with more than 20 years in the Emergency Medical Service (EMS).

Retirees were also recognised at the service at the SWALEC Stadium, as well as non-EMS staff who had dedicated 20 years or more.

This year, as well as those traditional awards, the Trust introduced category awards – six in total – which are aligned to its new behaviours.

Time was also taken to honour colleagues who have died while on duty and in service.

Speaking at the ceremony, Chief Executive Tracy Myhill said: “I never cease to be amazed and inspired by the professionalism and excellence our staff and volunteers display across all aspects of their work with the Welsh Ambulance Service.

“Our staff awards are a fabulous way to show our appreciation and recognise the sterling efforts of our people.”

Last night’s ceremony also saw the presentation of two special awards.

The Gail Williams Award, which is sponsored by Michael Williams and his daughters Megan and Sioned in memory of his wife and their mother, Gail Williams, pays tribute to those who have provided clinical excellence in the pre-hospital setting.

This year it was presented to EMS staff Nick Ozzati, Phil Watts and Helen Collins who are all based in Llanelli.

In April they responded to a group call to a young baby in cardiac arrest.

Through their joint efforts they achieved a return of spontaneous circulation and thanks to their actions, the child has now left hospital.

Head of Clinical Operations, Greg Lloyd, said: “The team selflessly put the needs of the patient first and displayed excellent teamwork in a demanding and highly emotive situation.”

The Trust also presented its Dr Jennifer Bucknell Community First Responder (CFR) Award, which recognises those who have gone the extra mile to deliver first aid to their community.

The award, which was inspired by sudden death of the popular Cardiff University student and first responder, went jointly to Tomos Hughes and Bryan Foley.

Bryan Foley has dedicated his time to assisting others for over 12 years as a CFR and, of the 5,000 calls the Barry team has attended since they started, it is believed that Bryan has personally attended well over 3,000.

Since Tomos qualified in 1999 he has attended hundreds of 999 calls within the Conwy Valley, supporting members of the public who were experiencing a life-threatening incidents. He has also provided 39 villages with a life-saving defibrillator.

In the Trust’s category awards, Paramedics Andrew Parker, based in Pontypool, and Cwmbran-based Jeff Lewis, were recognised for Valuing Difference for the kind and considerate treatment they gave to a patient with dementia who suffered a fall.

Ambulance Liaison Officer Helen Radcliffe from the Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service (NEPTS) received the Working Together award for the work she has done to improve transport services for dialysis patients in the South East region.

Meanwhile, the award for Taking Responsibility went to NEPTS call taker and supervisor Carl Phillips for his efforts to strengthen relations in his team and enhance the service for patients.

The recipients of the Personal Excellence award were Human Resources Business Partners Hilary Caffrey Matthews, Michelle Morse and Cath Mulligan and Communications Specialist Lois Hough for facilitating the ‘Big Bang’ recruitment event in Cardiff, which led to the recruitment of more than 30 Paramedics.

The Chief Executive’s award recognises those who consider the needs of others, and was given to Carmarthen EMS staff Tom Bloomfield, John Wilkins and Jonathan Griffiths for their commitment to improving relations in the workplace and in the community.

The final award of the evening was the Chair’s Award, which recognises people working across teams and boundaries for the benefit of others.

It was handed to NEPTS General Manager for Central and West, Joanne Rees-Thomas, for continuously modelling great public service behaviours and showing warmth and kindness to those around her.

Chair Mick Giannasi said: “It has been a wonderful and inspirational evening and we are absolutely delighted to share and celebrate the hard work and achievements of our colleagues.

“Awards such as this remind us of the work which our staff and volunteers undertake day in and day out, often in very difficult circumstances.”

The Trust would like to thank Ortus Technology, Swansea University’s College of Human and Health Sciences, Blake Morgan Solicitors, Ridler Webster and Scarlet Design Group for sponsoring the event, as well as staff at the SWALEC Stadium for hosting it.