17th October 2024
The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service is celebrating the success of our Paramedic staff at the Advancing Healthcare Awards ceremony which took place, recently, at the Stormont Hotel in Belfast on Thursday 10 October.
NIAS Paramedics were shortlisted across five categories, carrying off the top award in three and with the other two being recognised as finalists. We also had a Paramedic recognised in the “Rising Star” Category.
The awards are organised jointly by Chamberlain Dunn and the Department of Health, and are an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the important and innovative work of healthcare scientists and allied health professionals.
The awards that NIAS secured top prize in, were the awards for “Partnership working in Public Health” and also for “”Creative and Innovative Practice”
Our Complex Case Team, led by Claire Hallowell and Aidan McDonnel were on hand to receive the award for “Partnership Working in Public Health”. Working with the British Red Cross on the INTERACT project, this team seeks to ensure that the health and social care needs of frequent callers are appropriately met , while simultaneously reducing the demand on the Ambulance Service and local Emergency Departments.
The second top award was picked up by our Clinical Education Team, led by Paul Corns and Emma Boylan. They won the “Creative and Innovative Practice” award for their Cardiac Arrest Masterclass project. This project designed, developed and delivered a novel format “masterclass” education day regarding Out Of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) for NIAS Clinical Staff. The project team which delivered the project included Andrew McFarlane, Sean McGeown, Joanne Murphy and Brian Mulligan.
Scott Mawhinney, who is also a NIAS Paramedic, picked up the “Reservist of the Year” award, which is sponsored by 38 (Irish) Brigade.
The “Rising Star” award went to Emma McCorkell as the first Research Paramedic in NI. Emma is currently conducting a 5-year retrospective review of OHCA in NI. This research, funded by NI Chest Heart and Stroke is the first of its kind in NIAS.
We also want to congratulate Karl Bloomer and Julia Wolfe on being finalists in the categories for which they were nominated.
Neil Sinclair, Chief Paramedic Officer with NIAS, reflected on the success at the ceremony, saying;
“It is great to see Paramedicine represented so well at the 2024 AHA advancing healthcare awards.
As the youngest member of the AHP family it is great to be nominated for and to win awards, this is a great achievement for the profession.
The landscape of Paramedicine has and continues to evolve at scale and pace, developing the workforce to be able to respond to and treat patients in the most effective manner. Here in NI we are working hard to continue to modernise Paramedicine. The impact of this and the hard work and dedication of the teams involved is reflected in the AHA awards.”
NIAS Chief Executive, Michael Bloomfield, was understandably delighted at the recognition of NIAS staff:
As Chief Executive I have witnessed at first hand the effort that our staff have put in, and continue to put in, to ensure that our patients are treated with the highest levels of care, compassion and, importantly, clinical expertise. Much work was undertaken to secure Allied Healthcare Professional status for our Paramedics in 2018. The recognition received is testament of their dedication and commitment to patient care. Paramedicine continues to evolve and will be central to the delivery of Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland, for years to come.
While this is a night to celebrate Paramedic achievement, I know that each of the successful nominees will be the first to agree that these awards are a reflection of the entire NIAS workforce. Everything we do is as a result of team effort and a culture within NIAS that the patient comes first. In congratulating our winners and finalists, I also want to say thank you to all our staff on the frontline, in non-emergency patient care roles, in our Control Centres and also our administrative, managerial and support staff.
Today, more than ever, I am very proud to be the Chief Executive of NIAS.
I would also like to take a moment to extend congratulations to others in Paramedics roles who are not NIAS employees and who picked up awards for Ulster University Student Paramedic of the Year and for Outstanding Service Delivery by an AHP working outside the NHS.